By Neil Farrell
The sudden appearance on Wednesday, Aug. 5 of the County Sheriff’s SWAT Team, weapons drawn, on a Downtown Morro Bay side street, was stunning in itself. But when County Sheriff Ian Parkinson revealed what it was all about last week, it came as at least a big of a shock.
Sheriff Parkinson, at an Aug. 11 news conference at the County Jail, said that first search warrant in the 700 block of Napa Ave., was the first of five raids — Aug. 6 in the 1900 block of 10th St., Los Osos; and on Aug. 7 in the 4900 block of Rosario Ave., Atascadero, the 1000 block of Chestnut St., and 100 block of 12th St., in Paso Robles — executed after a 10-month investigation into a cocaine distribution ring, with ties to “a Mexican drug cartel,” operating in SLO County.
When the dust settled, eight men were in jail, including three from Morro Bay, and a ninth, a Cayucos resident, was at-large as of Tuesday and being sought. All are facing felony drug charges and had their bails set at $1 million each, though the district attorney added that three had asked to reduce their bail. A news report said at least two had already made bail and been released.
The Sheriff explained that a total of more then 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of suspected cocaine worth more than $200,000 on the street, was seized in the raids, along with several hunting and assault rifles — including two AK-47s — and a .357 magnum revolver, plus numerous clips and ammunition.
Sheriff Parkinson declined to divulge which Mexican cartel was involved with the local operation, which was allegedly distributing large quantities of cocaine — kilos and up — throughout SLO County, and surrounding counties, as well.
He also said they didn’t know how the drugs had gotten to SLO County, whether in a panga boat or other smuggling scheme. He didn’t want to speculate on how the drugs got here but he doubted it was via panga boat.
With the rash of drug smuggling panga boats that have landed on the SLO County Coast over the past several years, Sheriff Parkinson said that few were found with cocaine aboard. It’s mostly been marijuana and some heroin that they’ve been able to seize.
Sheriff Parkinson said this was the biggest cocaine bust in the County in recent history and was surprising in that the drug of choice these days seems to be heroine, which he called an “epidemic.”
In the 1980s, he explained, cocaine was very popular, but it died out in the 1990s, giving way to a surge in methamphetamine. In recent years meth has given way to heroine, which is also likely coming from Mexican drug cartels.
“To see this [cocaine] come back is a little surprising to us,” he said.
The men who were arrested were: Chase Michael Hanson, 25 of Morro Bay on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a crime, transportation and sale of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance for sale, first degree residential burglary, and maintaining a place for the sale of narcotics. Witnesses to the SWAT raid told The Bay News that Hanson rented a condo at 715 Napa Ave., for about the past year.
Dane James Bennett, 26 of Morro Bay also lived on Napa Street. He’s been charged with suspicion of conspiracy, transportation and sales, possession for sale, and maintaining a place for the sale of narcotics.
Jonathan David Byham, 25 of Atascadero — suspicion of conspiracy, transportation and sale of drugs and possession of a controlled substance for sale.
Sawyer Scott Sackett, 18, of Paso Robles — suspicion of conspiracy, transportation and sales, and possession for sale.
Johnnie James Medina Jr., 27 of Morro Bay, suspicion of conspiracy, first degree residential burglary, and receiving stolen property.
Alexander John Getzbouchillon, 23 of Los Osos — suspicion of conspiracy, transportation and sales, and possession for sale.
Jason Vidal Sianez, 27 of Atascadero — suspicion of conspiracy, transportation and sales, and possession for sale.
Joseph Arch Messineo, 39 of Atascadero — suspicion of conspiracy, possession for sale, cultivating marijuana, and possession of marijuana for sale.
An arrest warrant was issued for Alexander Allan Matarese, 31 of Cayucos, with reported charges of conspiracy, transportation and sales, and possession for sale.
All charges are felonies, the Sheriff’s Office said. And the gang’s activities apparently extended beyond alleged drug dealing. “The Sheriff’s office is also seeking charges in regards to a related residential burglary in Grover Beach. Additional charges are pending.”
District Attorney Dan Dow said his office would prosecute all of the cases, and seven of the defendants are due back in court Sept. 17. Preliminary hearings, when prosecutors will reveal the basics of their cases, are set for Sept. 19.
A case this big naturally requires the cooperation of numerous agencies. “The Sheriff’s Office was assisted in the investigation by members of the Drug Enforcement Administration, District Attorney’s Investigators, San Luis Obispo Police Department, County Probation Department, CHP, Irish Law Enforcement, and Homeland Security Investigations.”
The Irish connection, Sheriff Parkinson said, was because one of the suspects “went to Ireland during the investigation.” Investigators thought it wise to alert Irish law enforcement to keep an eye on him, he said.
“This case is a direct result of partnerships,” Sheriff Parkinson said.
The suspects were allegedly taking pure cocaine and cutting it with various substances, as well as cooking it down to rock cocaine. Several of the evidence bags on display at the news conference contained rock cocaine, and others had powder.
Asked how long this ring might have been in business, Parkinson said he hated to speculate but at least a couple of the men had been doing this “for some period of time.”
Asked how a drug distribution ring could operate in residential neighborhoods, or in Morro Bay’s Downtown, indeed the Los Osos residence is on the same street as the Sheriff’s Substation and just a few blocks away, the Sheriff said these men were not street dealers. They did not constantly have people coming and going, staying 5 minutes and leaving, which would draw suspicion.
These guys were selling large quantities and distributing it all over the county and surrounding counties, he said, so it was easy not to notice.
“With selling higher quantities you won’t see a high level of activity and it can go unnoticed. Napa [Avenue] is not a good place to live and sell for a street dealer but this largely goes unnoticed. Neighbors often say they never saw anything odd.”
With the visit by SWAT the worst kept secret in town, the Sheriff’s Department explained why it waited a week before announcing the arrests, even though seven of the original eight arrestees had already been to court on Friday, Aug. 7, with two posting bail.
“The Sheriff’s Office waited until this week to conduct a press conference because our investigators were still in the process of serving search warrants last week, including one Friday night, and did not want to jeopardize the entire investigation by releasing information in a piecemeal fashion,” reads the official press release.
