SANTA PAULA, VENTURA : 3 Arrested, Drugs Seized in Inquiry
Police have concluded a two-month investigation into methamphetamine dealers in Ventura and Santa Paula with the arrest of three people and the seizure of five pounds of the drug, authorities said Thursday.
Ramiro Juarez, 38, and Anna Prado, 30, both of Santa Paula, and Manuel Gutierrez were taken into custody about 3 p.m. Wednesday in a parking lot near the intersection of Seaward Avenue and Harbor Boulevard. Police did not know Gutierrez’s age or hometown.
Ventura Police Sgt. Bill Bogner said the three, who he described as wholesale traffickers, were in the parking lot waiting to sell the drugs to other dealers.
During the arrests, police found five one-pound packages of the powdered substance inside the car. The street value of the drugs was estimated at $200,000.
The arrests were made without incident, Bogner said, with the help of about 18 officers from Ventura, Oxnard and Santa Paula and agents from the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
All three suspects are being held in federal custody in Los Angeles, Bogner said.
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