Fountain Valley police seize more than $22,000 of illegal drugs and 15 firearms, arrest suspect

Fountain Valley police seized a large scale of narcotics and several firearms during a drug bust Monday in Redlands.

As part of an ongoing investigation, the Fountain Valley Police Department Crime Suppression Unit developed information regarding an individual who was involved in large-scale narcotics trafficking throughout the Orange County area. With the assistance of the Redlands Police Department, the special unit obtained a search warrant for the suspect and his residence, FVPD Sgt. Robert Cortes said.

Maxwell Dean Stohler of Redlands, 29, was detained Monday. Police executed a search warrant on his home and found approximately 4,000 Xanax pills, 19 grams of suspected cocaine and 15 firearms.

The firearms included an unregistered assault rifle and a “ghost” gun similar to a Glock handgun, which appeared to have been modified to fire fully automatic. Stohler was prohibited from possessing firearms.

The street value of the narcotics was estimated at more than $22,000, Cortes said. Though they appeared similar to those legitimately manufactured, they likely contained fentanyl, and their exact chemical composition is unknown.

Stohler was arrested on suspicion of the possession of narcotics for the purposes of sales, as well as various weapons violations. He was later booked into West Valley Detention in Rancho Cucamonga.

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