Two Southern California men were arrested in Minden on Thursday with more than four pounds of cocaine worth $250,000 for the largest cocaine seizure in Carson Valley history.
Juan Carlos Medina, 33, of West Covina, Calif., and Asceacion Ignacio Arias, 30, of Santa Ana, Calif., were jailed on $250,000 each.
Both men were charged with trafficking in a controlled substance and conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.
The trafficking offense is punishable by up to a life sentence in prison. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years in prison.
Douglas County Undersheriff Bob Rudnick said Friday the arrests were the conclusion of a two-week investigation conducted by the sheriff's office Street Enforcement Team and the Tri-Net Task Force.
He said the arrests were made in the parking lot of a Minden convenience store.
"The cocaine was delivered here for the purpose of sale in the Carson Valley," Rudnick said. "It's a consistent problem here. For most of the people we see in our court system, the drug of choice is methamphetamine, but there still is a serious cocaine problem."
The cocaine was packaged in two kilograms with a street value of $250,000, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The suspects are to be arraigned in East Fork Justice Court on Monday.
