Drug Suspect Sought for 10 Years Is Seized

A 41-year-old woman from Venezuela described by a federal prosecutor as a major figure in a Colombia-based international drug-smuggling ring is in custody in Los Angeles after eluding authorities for 10 years.

Girselda Blanco de Trujillo, who used the alias Lucercia Adarmez, was ordered held without bail in Los Angeles federal court Tuesday after she was arrested Sunday at her home in Irvine by federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents on a warrant issued in 1975.

Assistant U.S. Atty. John McEnany of New York said the ring smuggled “hundreds of kilos of cocaine and literally tons of marijuana” into the United States. He portrayed the arrest of De Trujillo as a “major blow” to drug trafficking.

De Trujillo was one of 37 people indicted in 1975 by a federal grand jury in New York for allegedly smuggling large quantities of cocaine and marijuana into this country between 1971 and 1974.

Twelve of those indicted were arrested and subsequently convicted of various drug charges.

McEnany said De Trujillo--one of the ring’s four leaders--was in charge of procuring drug couriers and arranging false U.S. travel documents for them.

Drug agency spokesmen could not explain how De Trujillo eluded federal authorities for a decade or how agents learned of her whereabouts.

A hearing on the case is scheduled for March 5.