Man Faces Federal Charge in Santa Ana Drug Sales

A Santa Ana man named in an unusual federal indictment for drug sales has been arrested and awaits arraignment next week, police said Friday.

Santa Ana narcotics officers arrested Enrique Cruz Moreno, 26, in Costa Mesa late Thursday, said Lt. Robert Helton.

While conducting an unrelated investigation, the Santa Ana officers recognized Moreno, who along with another Santa Ana man, Carlos Lares Gomez, 20, was indicted Feb. 21 by a federal grand jury for alleged drug sales involving amounts that are normally too small to interest federal agents.

Moreno, who is being held without bail in Los Angeles’ Metropolitan Detention Center, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning in Los Angeles, said Joan Freeman, who represented him Friday at a bail hearing in Santa Ana.

Authorities are still looking for Gomez, Helton said.

Officials charge that Moreno and Gomez were involved in four drug transactions involving a total of about 170 grams of cocaine. The U.S. attorney’s office usually does not handle cases involving less than 500 grams of cocaine.

In a press conference Tuesday, federal and city officials announced the indictments, saying they hoped their united effort would send a strong message to drug dealers in the Willard neighborhood, north of the Civic Center, where both men are suspected of dealing.

Moreno was indicted on four counts of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute and one count of carrying a firearm. Gomez was charged with one count of cocaine possession with the intent to distribute.

If convicted, Moreno faces seven years in federal prison as opposed to about 180 days in state prison if he was convicted in Superior Court, authorities said.