Suspected heroin dealers arrested after NET-5 investigation
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January 20, 2010 11:18:00 PM
By Rob Young/Appeal-Democrat

Two men partly responsible for a "fairly significant" increase in heroin use in Yuba-Sutter have been arrested, a drug enforcement official said Wednesday.

Juan Carlos Lopez, 40, and Jorge Ramon Guzman, 27, were bringing Mexican black tar heroin from Stockton and distributing it seven days a week from a trailer in the 2500 block of North Township Road in Sutter County, said Mike Hudson, commander of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic Enforcement Team, or NET-5.

Lopez and Guzman, both illegal immigrants known to be armed, were arrested early Saturday after six months of surveillance by NET-5, said Hudson.

Agents armed with a search warrant went to the North Township Road address and saw Lopez leave in a car. Sutter County Sheriff's Department deputies stopped it and found a gram of cocaine, which Lopez said he used instead of heroin, Hudson said.

Agents went to the trailer and found the door had been heavily fortified with several deadbolt locks.

"It took us some time to get in," Hudson said.

Inside, Guzman was trying to throw a half-ounce package of heroin out the window, he said. Besides the heroin, officers found a cutting agent used to double the volume of heroin to be sold, a scale, packaging material, a 12-gauge shotgun and $6,000, Hudson said.

The contraband was being stored in hidden compartments in the trailer. A .38-caliber handgun and a rifle were found in other vehicles on the property, he said.

Hudson estimated Lopez and Guzman had been selling heroin for about two years, becoming more active in the past six months.

He called heroin the most addictive drug around, with methamphetamine a close second.

"I highly anticipate there will be less heroin in Yuba-Sutter," Hudson said — at least until another dealer fills the void created by the arrests of Lopez and Guzman, he added.

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