OXNARD : 5 Suspects Are Jailed in Drug Investigation
Five men were arrested on suspicion of selling methamphetamines in west Ventura County, authorities said Saturday.
The arrests concluded a lengthy investigation involving officers from the Oxnard and Ventura police departments and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration. Police identified the suspects as Manuel Pelayo, 34; Juan Martin Garcia, 29; Herida Filmeno, 46; and Juan Jose Barajas, 23, all of Oxnard, and Daniel Escobar Velasquez, 20, of Los Angeles.
Barajas, Filmeno and Velasquez were arrested after a brief foot chase Friday afternoon, shortly after they allegedly delivered six pounds of methamphetamines to an unidentified buyer in a shopping center at Ventura Road and 5th Street in Oxnard, police said.
Pelayo and Garcia, who police said are “ringleaders of a narcotic network,” were arrested later Friday at Rancho Furniture store in the 2400 block of Saviers Road in Oxnard. Authorities said Pelayo owns the store and Garcia is his business associate.
All five suspects were being held without bail Saturday at Ventura County Jail. They will be taken to Los Angeles next week where they will face federal narcotics charges, police said.
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