Authorities Arrest 3, Confiscate Drugs : OXNARD

Three Oxnard residents have been arrested and 47 pounds of marijuana and a small amount of cocaine confiscated as the result of a two-month sting operation, a Ventura County sheriff’s spokesman said Tuesday.

Juan Hernandez Carranza, 33, and Rebecca Villa Hernandez, 35, were arrested Monday after authorities stopped their car in south Oxnard at 5:25 p.m. and found in it marijuana and cocaine packaged for sale, said Sgt. Arnie Aviles.

The pair were booked on suspicion of transporting marijuana and cocaine for sale after police searched their residence and found evidence that they had smuggled drugs into the country, Aviles said.

Minutes later, police arrested Emo Gonzales Mireles, 28, on suspicion of selling marijuana. He was arrested near Channel Islands Boulevard and Gisler Avenue.

Officers from the Santa Paula and Oxnard police departments teamed with the sheriff’s narcotics unit in the investigation, which ended after an undercover officer negotiated the purchase of a large amount of marijuana, Aviles said. Police trailed Carranza and Hernandez to Pacific Coast Highway and Channel Islands Boulevard and stopped their car. Along with the drugs, officers recovered a semiautomatic handgun, Aviles said.

At a residence on South Oxnard Boulevard, police found more packaged cocaine and evidence of a smuggling operation. Police estimated the street value of the confiscated drugs at $70,000.

The three are being held at County Jail on $250,000 bail each.