Halloween Drug Sale Scares Up Arrests

by F. Scott Faulkner , November 15, 2013

Santa Barbara – Craigslist is a great place to sell cars, furniture, electronics, and antiques. It’s not, however, such a good venue choice for the sale of illegal drugs, and anyone attempting to do so is either a candidate for this year’s Darwin Awards or is endowed with hubris beyond that of General Custer at Little Big Horn.

Gabriel Yanowitx

Proof of that surfaced during an investigation conducted by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit acting upon an anonymous tip reporting Craigslist postings offering certain prescription medications for sale. According to SBSD Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover, detectives made online contact with Gabriel Yanowitz, 21, who “offered to sell Sheriff’s Narcotics Detectives 1,000 Xanax pills.”

Just as trick-or-treaters were hitting the streets of Isla Vista, Yanowitz’s new customers appeared to conduct what he ostensibly presumed would be a clandestine transaction. But once Detectives established the fact that Yanowitz was, in fact, “in possession of the Xanax pills and was attempting to sell the pills,” the handcuffs came out and the goblins of law enforcement revealed themselves. With Yanowitz in custody, Detectives became aware of a co-conspirator in the area. Not long afterward, Isla Vista Foot Patrol officers apprehended Tyler Peltier, 19, who was found nearby and is suspected of having been wholesaling Xanax to Yanowitz in considerable bulk quantities.

Tyler Peltier

With both suspects in custody, search warrants upon their residences were served, and more than 3,000 Xanax pills were confiscated with a street value reported by Hooever of more than $16,000.

Both enterprising online entrepreneurs were transported to Santa Barbara County Jail where they were booked on charges of possession for sale of a controlled substance, transportation of a controlled substance, and conspiracy to sell and transport a controlled substance. Bail for Yanowitz and Peltier was set at $30,000 each.