Police Raid Almond Avenue Meth Den

Santa Barbara police made nine arrests and located a missing 15-year-old during a raid on an Almond Avenue meth den this week.

Over the course of the last few months, the department’s narcotics unit had received a number of complaints about foot traffic and gang activity around a home on the 1400 block of Almond Avenue on the city’s west side. An investigation showed that “a portion of the property was under construction and had been rented to tenants who were involved in drug activity,” said police spokesperson Sgt. Riley Harwood in a press release. “[T]hey, in turn, allowed other drug users to congregate there.”

On November 20 at around 2:15 p.m, detectives served a search warrant on the property and made contact with 25 people, including a local 15-year old girl who had been reported as a missing person. She was reunited with her family. The property owner was warned about maintaining a public nuisance, Harwood said. As a result of the search and interviews, these nine people were arrested and booked in County Jail on the following charges:

– Rodolfo Garcia, age 28, of Santa Barbara, for violation of probation, no bail

– Julio Jose Ochoa, age 23, of Santa Barbara, for violation of probation, no bail

– David Calixtro-Fuentes, age 25, of Santa Barbara, for failure to appear, $5,000 bail

– Kathleen Deanna Lino, age 26, of Santa Barbara, for possession of methamphetamine and possession of narcotics paraphernalia

– David Toscano Gregorio, age 43, of Santa Barbara, for possession of methamphetamine and possession of narcotics paraphernalia

– Efrain Ward Lopez Jr., age 27, of Santa Barbara, for possession of methamphetamine and possession of a knife in plain view in public

– Luz Maria Zapian, age 23, of Santa Barbara, for possession of narcotics paraphernalia

– Tamme Anne Dishion, age 47, of Santa Barbara, for being under the influence of a controlled substance

– Evette Ann Vargas, age 38, of Lompoc, for resisting or delaying an officer