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88 Pounds of Cocaine Found in Empty Stash House

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Photo by Tatiana Popova via Shutterstock

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One Orange County cocaine distribution network has lost 88 pounds of its inventory following a discovery by officials this weekend. The cocaine, with an estimated street value of $4 million, was found early Saturday morning in a Lake Forest house "that narcotics investigators believe was used as a stash house to hide and distribute the drug throughout the country," according to the OC Register.A task force was investigating the home, and had the building under observation. Investigators watching the home Friday night said they saw two men leave the home by car. They requested the Orange County Sheriff's Department pull the vehicle over on the I-5 Freeway.

Officials searching the car found a secret compartment...but it was empty. Once a search warrant was served on the vacant home, authorities discovered a second vehicle with a similar secret compartment, only that one was holding 40 kilos of cocaine.

The house was empty, except for one bed and one television set. Investigators believe the house was solely used for stashing the coke.

The two men inside the car that left the home Friday were taken into custody.

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