A man described by authorities as a known cocaine dealer operating in southwest Riverside County was arrested and charged with three felonies as part of an ongoing investigation, but he bailed out the next day and was eventually found with more drugs, guns and stolen property.
The Murrieta Police Department said Saturday that their Special Enforcement Team (SET) served a warrant at several locations belonging to the suspect. The date and time of the operation was not disclosed; however, police said that they recovered:
- 1.2 pounds of powder cocaine
- 3 pounds of processed marijuana
- 2 firearms: One a ghost pistol and the other unregistered
- $22,638.26 in U.S. currency
The suspect, who was not named, was arrested, charged with three felonies and booked into jail. According to police, he bailed out of custody the next day, but SET officials did not stop their investigation into the case and eventually identified another location containing “illegal items.”
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A search warrant at that location was served by detectives which turned up two more pounds of processed marijuana, five rifles, three shotguns and six high-capacity magazines.
In addition, a pair of dirt bikes that were reported stolen were also found. Investigators later determined one of them was taken during a burglary in Murrieta around this time last year and a second was stolen from Camp Pendleton, MPD said.
Following the second search warrant, the suspect was arrested and booked into jail for a litany of charges:
- Burglary
- Possession of an assault weapon (four counts)
- Possession of a ghost gun
- Possession of marijuana for sale
- Possession of stolen property
- Possession of a stolen vehicle
No further information on the investigation was released…