Wanna-Be Highland Park Drug Kingpin Had How-To Manual: Suit

LOS ANGELES, CA —The City Attorney's Office is suing to have a Highland Park resident evicted from her family-owned home for allegedly conducting drug sales at the property, where a search warrant allegedly turned up evidence that she possessed a book about running a drug cartel.

The Los Angeles Superior Court action filed Thursday seeks to have the one-story, well-maintained and remodeled two-bedroom Craftsman-style home on Stratford Road be declared a public nuisance. It also asks that 43-year-old Lilia Chen be forced off the property and banned from being within 1,000 feet of the residence.

"The illegal narcotics activity at the property poses a threat to the surrounding community, including two community churches ... which are located within 1,000 feet of the property," the suit states.

The suit names as defendants Lilia Chen and her parents, Edward and Julie Chen. The elder Chens bought the property for $635,000 in June 2014 and their daughter, who has lived at the home since 2015, is a twice-convicted drug dealer, the suit states.

A representative for the Chens could not be immediately reached.

The LAPD on Sept. 6 served a search warrant at the residence and recovered 7 1/2 pounds of crystal methamphetamine worth about $28,000, the suit alleges. Also allegedly found were two semi-automatic firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and a room reserved for storing pre-packaged methamphetamine "sealed and ready for distribution," the suit states.

Detectives also found a book titled, "Narconomics, How to Run a Drug Cartel," and an undated letter from an inmate who instructed Lilia Chen on how to infuse methamphetamine onto paper or greeting cards, the suit alleges.

"The inmate further instructed defendant Chen to mail the paper and/or cards to him at the jail where he could then sell them for $1,000 a sheet," the suit states.

City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock