$40 Million in Cocaine Seized

Sheriff’s deputies raided homes in three counties early today, seizing more than 226 pounds of cocaine worth $40 million and exchanging gunfire with a man who shot at them, authorities said. The alleged gunman, Carlos Salas, 27, later surrendered. Neither he nor any of the deputies were injured in the shoot-out, which erupted when detectives served a search warrant on a home in Cerritos, Deputy Lynda Edmonds said.

The raids, which resulted in nine arrests, stemmed from a monthlong undercover investigation involving Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange counties and coordinated by a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department task force. In addition to the cocaine, investigators also recovered $416,000 in cash, Edmonds said.