Two weeks after receiving a tip about a “stash house” (a place where narcotics are held before they are sold), El Monte officers arrived at the home of Jose Portillo, 28, and Michael Castillo, 24 (the stash house tenants) in quiet Bellflower neighborhood around 7 p.m. Wednesday, placing them under arrest. The two men are Mexican nationals, now facing charges of narcotics possession, intent to sell narcotics, and narcotics transportation.

During the bust Police seized 330 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $8 million, officials said.  Sgt. Patrick Reilly of California’s El Monte police department, who heads the narcotics and vice investigation team that found the drugs said, “This was a sizable seizure, it is very difficult to find this large of an amount at one location.”

The house was located in a quiet family neighborhood with four other houses, Reilly said. He also went on to say, that when asked their neighbors said  “they had no idea of the activity taking place in the house.”