OXNARD : 5 Adults, 7 Minors Arrested Over Drugs

A narcotics crackdown in Oxnard’s La Colonia district on Monday led to the arrest of five adults and seven minors, all suspected of selling drugs, a police spokesman said.

The arrests followed a two-month undercover investigation in which officers posing as drug buyers identified and videotaped 28 individuals, Oxnard Police Lt. Tom Cady said.

Beginning at 12:30 p.m., five Oxnard residents were arrested in connection with crack cocaine transactions, Cady said. They are Jose Machado, 20; Francisco Marquez Montez, 32; Earthel Jackspar, 19; Richard Ledesma, 42; and Deron James, 20, Cady said.

All were taken to County Jail, where they remained in lieu of $20,000 bail each, a jail spokesman said.

The juveniles, ranging in age from 13 to 17, were arrested beginning at 2:30 p.m. and placed in the county Juvenile Hall, Cady said.

During the course of the investigation, which began in May, an undercover agent was robbed and struck in the face by a juvenile drug peddler, Cady said. Seven search warrants were issued after the incident, and the juvenile involved was arrested on July 11, Cady said. Police are still looking for 15 individuals identified during various drug transactions, and more arrests are expected, Cady said.

Authorities said the investigation came after neighbors in the Rose Park and Felicia Court areas complained of an increase in automobile and pedestrian traffic that they attributed to drug sales.