Luis Tinajero
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY — Information regarding the January 16th arrest of a suspected armed drug dealer of apparent significant law enforcement interest was only made public on March 11th by Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover.
The reasonable assumption thereby is that SBSD Narcotics Detectives refrained from publicizing the arrest of 41-year-old Luis Tinajero pursuant to their interest in further advancing their investigation into his wide-ranging activities and contacts throughout the county.
Police display Tinajero’s cache
Tinajero, a resident of The City of Ventura some 15 miles to the south of Santa Barbara County, was contacted at the Carl’s Jr. Restaurant in Carpinteria.
The restaurant is situated in very close proximity to a southbound U.S. 101 onramp, making it a locally-known and popular location for those engaged in a wide variety of nefarious activities.
As such, the area surrounding the restaurant is under frequent law enforcement surveillance, a fact which may have escaped the out-of-town resident Tinajero when he pulled into the fast food emporium’s parking lot on the night of January 16th.
According to Hoover, the SBSD Narcotics Unit had been investigating and surveilling Tinajero for the prior three months, observing his engagement “in methamphetamine sales in Carpinteria,” and when they pulled him over pursuant to “an enforcement stop,” they had a search warrant for his vehicle handy.
Inside Tinajero’s car, detectives found a loaded handgun, “1.3 pounds of cocaine and 5.3 pounds of methamphetamine” which they estimated to have a street value in excess of $70,000.
Tinajero was taken into custody, arrested at the scene, and subsequently transported to Santa Barbara County Jail, where he was booked on charges of possessing and transporting cocaine, possessing methamphetamine for sale, carrying a concealed and loaded firearm, and possessing a controlled substance while armed.
His bail was set at $500,000, apparently substantial enough to keep him behind bars for a while, as he currently remains in custody.
Photo: Courtesy of Santa Barbara County Jail Booking
