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WATSONVILLE — Several Watsonville area gang members are behind bars after an area check by two police officers on Sunday night, June 18th.
At around 8:30 PM, two officers on an area check in known gang areas of Watsonville noticed several suspicious individuals sitting in a vehicle.
The officers made contact, of whom they counted five, at which point one noticeably tried to hide contraband in the vehicle.
A records check of all five determined that one was on probation and thus subject to search and seizure.
Officers searched the vehicle and discovered marijuana, an open container of alcohol, and paraphernalia for smoking marijuana. They also recovered a loaded .40 calber handgun.
All arrested were: Mikey Diaz (18), Edward Tovar (20), Salina Sanchez (23), Jose Ramirez (25) — all of Santa Cruz — and Ivan Franco (26) of Los Banos.