Special enforcement agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement served a search warrant Tuesday morning at the Phoenician Stone, then proceeded to confiscate some of the material by pulling various slabs of stones and boxes onto the sidewalk in front of the store in Corona del Mar on Pacific Coast Highway.
Nobody was arrested during the search, but Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman with the federal agency's Western Region, said it was part of an on-going criminal investigation, the details of which will be released in time.
"This was not an immigration matter," she said. "This was customs-related, but that's all I can tell you. Believe me, I like a good story and when everything comes out, I'll be able to comment on it. But right now we're dealing with allegations and there have been no charges filed."