5 Are Arrested in Suspected Drug Ring

Acting on a tip from the postal service, narcotics investigators arrested five Oxnard residents suspected of running a methamphetamine ring.

The Sheriff’s Department was informed that an illegal shipment of pseudoephedrine, a mixing agent commonly used in making the drug and found in such over-the-counter medications as Sudafed, was being delivered to an address in the 900 block of Cedar Court in Oxnard on Thursday.

Deputies searched a car leaving the residence and found 76 pounds of pseudoephedrine tablets. Inside the home, deputies found another 50 pounds of the agent. The total value of the chemical is $28,000, and about 10 to 15 pounds of methamphetamine could have been produced, deputies said.

“That’s more than one [law-abiding] person could use in several years,” said Sgt. Larry Meyer. Inside another vehicle, deputies found half an ounce of heroin and a gram of cocaine.

Oxnard residents Filiberto Cerino, 31, Ramon Almaguer, 25, Fernando Medina, 21, Luz Rubio, 20, and Ilsa Maldonado, 30, were arrested on suspicion of possession of chemicals with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

Cerino was also arrested on suspicion of possession of heroin and cocaine for sale, deputies said.

All the suspects were booked in Ventura County Jail, and bail was set for each at $50,000.