At about 8:30am Tuesday, Turlock Police and allied agencies arrived at eight different locations to conduct follow-up in a narcotics investigation.
Back in February, the Turlock Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit received a tip about a sophisticated illegal black-market cannabis cultivation operation.
The investigation revealed eight locations associated with the operation, two in the City of Turlock, five in unincorporated Turlock, and one in the City of Ceres.
Some of these locations were within the same block. The City of Turlock addresses were in the 200 block of S. Orange Street, the unincorporated Turlock addresses were in the 700 block of N. Faith Home Road, 6400 block of W. Main Street, and 4900 block of S. Prairie Flower Road, and the City of Ceres addresses were in the 1300 block of E. Hackett Road.
Probable cause was developed to obtain search warrants for these addresses, and the warrants were served with the assistance of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office, Merced County Sheriff’s Office, Modesto Police Department, Ceres Police Department, California Department of Cannabis Control, and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
As a result, over 5,500 marijuana plants were seized and six firearms were recovered, one of which had been reported stolen.
Additionally, four people were arrested, all of Turlock. They were identified as Brigit Oseguera, 29, Jose Solis, 32, Virgilio Jimenez, 37, and Steven Evans, 62.
Evans was booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of possession of a controlled substance while armed with a loaded and operable firearm, carrying a loaded firearm, operating or maintaining a drug house, possession of more than 28.5 grams of cannabis or eight grams of concentrated cannabis, possession of methamphetamines, and cultivating cannabis plants, while the others were released on citations for several California Health and Safety Code violations.
According to police, additional charges and suspects are likely to be forthcoming.
“We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to the [allied agencies] for their assistance and commitment to keeping our communities safe,” said Turlock Police spokeswoman Dominique Sanchez.
The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information that could assist is encouraged to call Investigator Young at 209-668-6575.
