ARREST OF 28 CAPS TWO-YEAR COCAINE PROBE

Officers from 16 law enforcement agencies arrested 28 people Tuesday
allegedly involved in a Shafter-based cocaine distribution ring.

The roundup capped a two-year investigation that the Kern Net Violent Crimes
Task Force -- made up of FBI agents and Kern County sheriff's deputies --
0Fdubbed "Cracklin' Rose." Arrests were made in Bakersfield, Delano,
Shafter, Wasco and Sacramento.

Kern County Sheriff Carl Sparks and James Maddock, special agent in charge
of the FBI's Sacramento office, announced the results of the raids Tuesday
afternoon.

Sparks said the target of the raids was Anthony Lee Toliver, 30, of Shafter.
He said Toliver is suspected of controlling the operation.

A news release sent to the media stated authorities also were looking for
his alleged sources for cocaine and the distribution network.

Sparks told reporters that Toliver had told police officers in Shafter on
several occasions that he was untouchable.

Maddock said the organization was operating at the local level.

Although it was related to other gangs operating in Los Angeles, it has no
known ties with a more international drug trafficking organization.

Toliver and 13 others were arrested on federal cocaine possession and
distribution charges.

Another 13 people were arrested on state charges of conspiring to traffic in
rock cocaine and money laundering.

In addition to the arrests, officers seized cocaine, methamphetamine and
marijuana, as well as some cash and several handguns and long guns.

No exact inventory of the drugs seized was available Tuesday, but Kern
sheriff's Cmdr. Hal Chealander estimated that about two pounds of cocaine
and cocaine base, two pounds of methamphetamine and a small amount of
marijuana were confiscated.

The people arrested on federal charges are scheduled to make initial
appearances in U.S. District Court in Fresno today.

In addition to Toliver, the federal suspects are: Israel Edward Jackson, age
not available; James Jenkins III, 21; Carl Mitchell Jones, 42; Malvin Lyons,
53; Dionicio Meza, 33; Pascual Cota Molina, 48; Melvin Charles Robertson,
24; Saul Ayon Rosette, 35; Isaac Sanchez, 33; Alpha Omega Stewart Jr., 46;
Ron Wiley, 26; Jonathan Edward Foots, 21; and Phillip Gutierrez, 33.

The operation involved more than 400 officers and 16 agencies.

All of the arrests were made in Kern County, except for the arrest of Kirk
Antoine Harris, 33, in Sacramento.

Harris was shot by a Sacramento Police Department SWAT team officer when he
reached for a weapon when officers entered his home, FBI agents said.

The names of suspects arrested on state charges will be released today,
sheriff's officials said.

The raids involved 195 officers, who served 22 federal and 18 state search
warrants, and 16 federal and 19 state arrest warrants.

In addition, 97 SWAT team members made 20 entries as part of the roundup.

Along with the FBI and the Kern County Sheriff's Department, law enforcement
agencies involved in the raids included the Drug Enforcement Administration;
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; Kern County District Attorney's
Office; Bakersfield Police Department; Kern County Probation Department; the
Kern County Fire Department Arson Unit; Delano Police Department; Shafter
Police Department; California City Police Department; California Highway
Patrol; Fresno County Sheriff's Department; Kings County Sheriff's
Department and Tulare County Sheriff's Department.

Sparks and Maddock said three suspects remain at large. The three are Brian
Anthony Patterson, 26,; Israel Edward Jackson, 24; and Jose Nunez, 30.

Anyone with information can call the Kern County Sheriff's Department at
391-7771.