Ventura County task force arrests 4 suspects accused of operating drug delivery service
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office announced a task force focused on fentanyl-related crimes arrested four men accused of running a drug delivery service operating out of Pacoima.
According to deputies, the task force dubbed Ventura County Fentanyl Overdose and Crime Units, began investigating this illicit drug delivery service after a pair of overdoses in Thousand Oaks resulted in the death of two people.
The nearly year-long search for the people behind the business directed the task force, which consists of local law enforcement agencies working with state and federal agencies, to the San Fernando Valley. In the past months, the deputies were able to arrest four men from Pacoima:
- Jose Perez Gomez, 23
- Javier Bernal Cruz, 29
- Edgar Cruz Martinez, 20
- Elver Gonzalez Garcia, 33
The task force confiscated 7.5 ounces of heroin a half ounce of powdered fentanyl, two ounces of methamphetamine, 638 counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and three grams of cocaine. They also seized $1851.
The Sheriff's Office said that the delivery service, and others like it, are controlled by Mexican drug cartels. They use what law enforcement calls "delivery drivers" to distribute drugs throughout Southern California. The profits they coup from these sales are funneled back to the cartels.
The four men were booked into Ventura County Jail but were released pending any additional investigation and charges.