Methamphetamine Seized, 3 Arrested

A team of about a dozen narcotics officers arrested three Oxnard residents and confiscated about $45,000 worth of methamphetamine that had been hidden in a washing machine still stuffed with clothes.

The team, led by investigators with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, raided an apartment in the 600 block of Channel Islands Boulevard about 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, said Sheriff’s Capt. Dennis Carpenter, who heads up his department’s narcotics division.

The raid, which also involved officers from the Oxnard Police Department, the Port Hueneme Police Department and the FBI, came after several weeks of surveillance, Carpenter said.

As the officers were preparing to serve their search warrant on the apartment, one of the suspects, 25-year-old Ramiro Buenrostro Lopez, allegedly hid a one-pound bag of methamphetamine under some wet laundry in the washing machine, officials said.

He and another man, 23-year-old Policarpo Cabral, then tried to get in a car and drive away, officials said.

Officers stopped the pair and then raided the apartment, finding about half an ounce of the drug in the car and the pound bag in the washing machine, Carpenter said.

Deputies also arrested Alma Herrera, 23, who was in the apartment when the narcotics officers arrived.

All three were booked into the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine for sale, officials said. Bail for each is set at $20,000.