SIX POUNDS OF DRUGS SEIZED

Three Arrested In Redwood City; Take Adds To Record 12 Months

Adding to a record haul of methamphetamine seized in the past 12 months, San
Mateo County drug agents took another six pounds of the drug off the street
Tuesday night in a Redwood City raid.

Agents from the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force also arrested three
men, including one convicted dealer who had been paroled from state prison,
according to the task force. The drugs had a street value of approximately
$250,000.

The arrests come a little more than a month after police made one of the
largest methamphetamine busts in county history. Agents seized 17 pounds in
a Redwood City raid in April.

They provide another indication of the growing popularity of methamphetamine
around the Bay Area, said task force commander Lt. Don O'Keefe.

O'Keefe's agents have seized 60 pounds of the drug since June of last year,
according to police statistics. They confiscated just 33 pounds in the
previous 12-month period.

"There's just a lot of stuff out there," O'Keefe said, noting that there has
been a marked increase in local production of the drug in recent years.

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive and potent mix of over-the-counter
cold medicine and poisonous additives such as battery acid, antifreeze and
lye. Much of it used to be manufactured in Southern California or in Mexico,
but production is now expanding throughout the country.

O'Keefe said police do not know where the latest batch was manufactured.

The three men arrested Tuesday were taken into custody after an undercover
sting at Woodside Road and Broadway. O'Keefe said the men were armed,
following a pattern that agents have seen frequently in recent months.

Arrested were: Joel Aguilar Farias, 37, a transient; Gabriel Jason Cavazos,
18, Redwood City; and Hilario Ambriz Flores, 35, a transient. Each is being
held in the San Mateo County jail on $4.8 million bond.

Contact Noam Levey at nlevey@sjmercury.com or (650) 688-7577.