Suspect Held in Drug Distribution Case

Ventura County prosecutors will not charge a 19-year-old Chula Vista man linked to his family’s illegal distribution of the so-called “date rape” drug, Rohypnol, but are keeping him in custody until San Diego authorities take over the case.

Fernando Palazuelos Villar appeared Friday in Ventura County Municipal Court after being arrested Wednesday on a $100,000 warrant.

During the arrest, Villar denied that he was a wanted man until police produced a photograph from the television show “America’s Most Wanted.”

Villar, his father and older brother were the focus of an undercover operation last year in which state and federal authorities charged the three family members with conspiracy and drug charges for allegedly selling Rohypnol.

Also known as “roofies,” the drug is a sleep aid 10 times stronger than Valium and banned in the United States. The drug received nationwide attention a few years ago because it was being used to knock out female victims in sexual assaults.

Villar’s pharmacist father, Carlos Sr., 49, and brother, Carlos Jr., 22, were arrested in July 1997 and pleaded guilty to charges filed in San Diego County. The father is serving a 12-year sentence and the brother a three-year term.

As of Friday evening, Fernando Villar remained in custody at the Ventura County Jail. San Diego police could not be reached for comment.