Narcotics team arrest 79-year-old suspected heroin dealer

SACRAMENTO — (Feb. 17) More than a pound of tar heroin and a large amount of cash was seized by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department’s Narcotics Enforcement Team when they arrested a 79-year-old man on Tuesday. The team also found a loaded handgun, Sgt. Tim Curran, sheriff’s spokesman, said during a phone interview.

Curran said that the suspect, Donaciano Rivera, was arrested at his home in the 6000 block of Dias Avenue in Sacramento. “A confidential source contacted us about Rivera and his alleged activities as a heroin dealer,” Curran stated. From that point on, he said, a month-long investigation was initiated.

The heroin’s street value was estimated at more than $36,000, Curran reported.

When he was taken into custody, Rivera had more than $7,100 in cash at his residence, a sheriff’s department report said.

Rivera was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail and faces charges of possession for sale of a controlled substance, carrying a concealed firearm not registered to owner, possession of a controlled substance while armed with a loaded firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and violation of probation.

Curran said that an investigation was “still ongoing.”

According to jail records, Rivera was scheduled to be arraigned in court on Thursday.

Aside from the Rivera arrest, Curran said that the narcotics enforcement team — also known as the “street team” — has been busy this year.

“Since the beginning of this year, they (the street team) have taken more than 61 suspects into custody,” he said. Most of those arrests have been for selling narcotics or narcotics related activities. “The team has also seized more then $30,000 in drug money and have taken six guns off of the streets.”

Over 26 pounds of marijuana and 50 grams of methamphetamine have also been seized by the team since their new operations started last month.