State drug officers and local SWAT teams arrested five people in
southwest Gilroy early Thursday morning for possession of 18 guns
and a bevy of cocaine, ecstasy, mushrooms and marijuana, police
said.
State drug officers and local SWAT teams arrested five people in southwest Gilroy early Thursday morning for possession of 18 guns and a bevy of cocaine, ecstasy, mushrooms and marijuana, police said.
As residents slept about 6 a.m. Thursday morning near the quiet intersection of Miller Avenue and Santa Teresa Boulevard, 30 officers from the state Department of Justice’s Unified Narcotic Enforcement Team teamed up with Morgan Hill and Gilroy SWAT teams to execute a search warrant on a rented house at 6395 Miller Ave., UNET Commander Mark Colla said.
Officers arrested five adults who lived on the property, at least one of whom authorities suspected of selling marijuana to Norteño gang members in Gilroy. Police recovered 10 pistols, six rifles, one semi-automatic, military-grade assault weapon and one “mini rifle” with a reconfigured stock to make it an assault rifle, Colla said. Police also seized 55 grams of cocaine worth about $3,000, 100 tabs of ecstasy worth about $1,000, six grams of mushrooms worth about $300, and 41 marijuana plants and 3.5 pounds of processed marijuana worth about $12,000, Colla said.
However, there was nothing to indicate gang ties except for the Norteño-marijuana connection, Colla said.
“These appeared to be mid-level drug dealers. With the weapons we seized and the amount of drugs, that indicates two things: one, it’s not for personal use and two, they were cultivating marijuana to sell it,” Colla said.
It was unclear where the rest of the drugs may have come from, but Colla said they probably originated with “local sources” and were destined for the streets of Gilroy.
About 10 a.m. Thursday morning, officers in camouflage and pistols strapped to their thighs walked through the police department lobby as their colleagues sorted the illicit drugs and weapons inside the station. They finished organizing everything by about 2 p.m. and filed charges against five people:
– Gilbert Salazar, 34
– Bernade Estrada, 27
– Christine DelMonico, 18
– Miguel Meraz, 31
– Manuel Chapa, 30
It was unclear whether the arrestees were American citizens or foreign nationals, but everyone except for Chapa lived inside the rented home, Colla said. Chapa lived outside in a trailer and only faces a charge for probation violation, while the other four face charges for possession of cocaine for sale, possession of ecstasy for sale, possession of marijuana for sale, and possession of assault weapons and loaded firearms. Estrada was also on probation, Colla said.
Colla would not say how long authorities had been investigating the house, but Sgt. Jim Gillio with the Gilroy Police Department lauded UNET’s teamwork with local authorities.
“The GPD was happy to lend our SWAT team’s assistance to ensure that the suspects were taken into custody safely based on the high amount of weaponry and drugs and the propensity for violence that comes with that,” Gillio said.
