LA City Attorney: Highland Park Daycare Owner Trafficked Cocaine

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) – A man was engaged in cocaine trafficking out of the same Highland Park home where he was operating an unlicensed daycare, according to a lawsuit filed this week by the Los Angeles City Attorney.

In May – and for the second time in two years -- officers raided a home at 5215 Marmion Way belonging to 48-year-old Felipe Talamante and found what was described as a "large-scale cocaine den," according to a news release from City Attorney Mike Feuer.

They recovered 44 pounds of cocaine during the search with a street value of $430,000.

The lawsuit cites a federal criminal complaint filed this month that claims Felipe tried to sell cocaine to an undercover federal agent. When the men met to make the sale, the agent noticed that children were playing in the home's front yard.

The home was being used as an unlicensed child care center for children ages 2 to 7, the complaint alleges. Cocaine was found in a room with a twin-size mattress where the children would take naps.

Talamante was arrested May 25 on charges of narcotics sales and child endangerment. He remains in federal custody in Los Angeles.

According to the district attorney's office, for the past two years the address had been a known drug house to law enforcement. In May 2015, authorities raided the home and arrested Felipe after also recovering 44 pounds of cocaine.

The city attorney's lawsuit seeks an injunction against Felipe and Garcia Talamante, the co-owners of the property. It asks a judge to close the property. It also wants a temporary restraining order to shut down the daycare center.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the city attorney's office and Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force (L.A. Impact).

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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