A state narcotics enforcement agent who was suspected of stealing money from drug suspects was charged Monday with grand theft and embezzlement, authorities said.



Gabriel Noel Baltodano, 35, pleaded not guilty Monday in Superior Court to charges that he stole $33,000 last week during an internal investigation, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said.



Baltodano, a nine-year veteran of the Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, became the target of the internal investigation after authorities discovered that he may have been stealing money from suspects, according to the district attorney's office. He was arrested last week.



He was charged with two counts each of grand theft and embezzlement and one count of filing a false police report, the district attorney's office said. He is scheduled for a court appearance Tuesday.



-- Robert J. Lopez



