Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Tuesday he is working to shut down a Highland Park day care facility where a multi-agency law enforcement task force recently seized about $430,000 worth of cocaine that was allegedly being delivered to the home-based business.
Feuer filed a civil lawsuit against Felipe and Prodigios Garcia Talamante seeking the closure of their multi-unit residence at 5215 Marmion Way, not far from Monte Vista Street Elementary School and the Metro Gold Line light-rail route. The litigation also seeks monetary penalties.
Members of LA IMPACT, a task force made up of several dozen Southern California law enforcement agencies focused on combating narcotics trafficking activity, last month recovered 20 kilograms of cocaine at the day care center, where they also saw children playing in the yard and being dropped off, Feuer said.
He alleged the cocaine was found next to a child’s bed inside the day-care business.
Feuer called the mix of children and narcotics trafficking activity a “toxic combination,” and said he is taking these actions based on allegations “the home has been the center of rampant drug activity, while at the same time being an unlicensed day care center.”
It would only be “a matter of time” before someone is hurt, he said.
Attorneys with the city are also expected later this week to request a restraining order to shut down the day care center, Feuer said.
One of the property owners, Felipe Talamante, was arrested on suspicion of narcotics sales and child endangerment, officials said.
Talamante allegedly has been operating as a drug distributor who “receives cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana directly from Mexico and sells them to customers in cities throughout the United States,” according to Feuer’s civil lawsuit.
Chuck Balo, acting director of LA IMPACT, described the alleged activity at the facility as “blatant and careless for the community.”
“I’ve been in this business longer than I care to admit, and I’ve seen some interesting and amazing circumstances, but this is going to be at the top,” he said.
While the estimated wholesale cost of the cocaine is estimated at more than $400,000, their street value is at least $2 million, LA IMPACT officials said.
Balo said the amount of cocaine found at the day care center appears to indicate that Felipe Talamante allegedly played a high-level role in narcotics trafficking.
He may have also involved his 19-year-old son, Miguel Angel Talamante, who was also arrested, Balo said.
The cocaine was delivered to the home during a May 25 undercover operation in which a state Department of Justice officer who is part of the LA IMPACT task force was in the middle of negotiating the purchase of drugs from people at the property, according to Carlos Mendoza, a spokesman for the joint team.
The task force worked to obtain a search warrant, and “several hours later .. searched the location and found the bag of narcotics that were dropped off earlier,” he said.
The discovery of the 20-kilogram stash of cocaine echoes an operation conducted two years ago by other law enforcement officials who included members of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, and from the cities of Inglewood and Simi Valley.
Balo said 20 kilograms of cocaine also was found in a 2015 search of the same home and a neighboring unit, although it was unclear if the residence was a operating as a day care acenter t the time. Felipe Talamante also was arrested in that bust.
Officials said Tuesday the U.S. Attorney Office has stepped in and is working on possible federal drug charges.
The Los Angeles County Department of Family and Children’s Services is investigating the matter.
