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4K Pounds Of Illegal Fireworks Seized From East LA Business

EAST LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A cache of 4,000 pounds of illegal fireworks worth at least $10,000 was seized from a business in unincorporated East Los Angeles, and its 34-year-old landlord was arrested, authorities said Tuesday.

Deputies discovered the fireworks after receiving information they were being stored at and sold from the location in the 700 block of South Kern Avenue, said Sgt. David Ladjevic of the Los Angeles County sheriff's East Los Angeles Station.

Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighters were summoned to remove and dispose of the fireworks, he said.

Victor Nolasco of East Los Angeles was cited for possession of illegal fireworks and released, Ladjevic said.

It was the third major seizure of illegal fireworks by the Sheriff's Department in the span of a week. Deputies seized 8,000 pounds of commercial-grade fireworks from a home in the 1600 block of East 124th Street in the unincorporated Willowbrook area and arrested 71-year-old Aaron Piggee on Wednesday.

Last Tuesday, deputies seized a cache of fireworks of roughly the same size at a storage facility in the 10900 block of Firestone Boulevard in Norwalk. No immediate arrests were made in that case.

(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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