Photo: Nava’s goodies
January 21, 2022 – Ventura County, Ca.
With drug overdose continuing to rank high on any actuarial cause-of-death ledgers, the Ventura County Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit (PCU) continues to have considerable job security.
A task force comprised of detectives attached to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and the Thousand Oaks Police Department, the PCU works to interdict the illegal street economy swirling around prescription medications, fentanyl, and methamphetamine.
Those efforts came to a degree of fruition on the afternoon of January 19 th with the arrest of 47-year-old Ventura resident Roderick Nava. According to VCSD spokesman Sgt. John Hajducko, the investigation into Nava’s activities began on November 25, 2021 when VCSD Ojai Patrol deputies responding to a 911 Emergency Dispatch call for assistance discovered “two subjects unconscious due to a drug overdose.”
Quick action on the part of the deputies and paramedics saved the lives of the two individuals who subsequently identified Nava “as a possible suspect” who had provided them with narcotics.
Nava eluded law enforcement for nearly three full months, but on January 19 th , he was contacted and detained by PCU detectives “pursuant to a search warrant.” That search warrant of his motel room lodgings led to the discovery of “1.5 pounds of methamphetamine, 56 grams of heroin, scales, and a digital scanner actively monitoring law enforcement radio frequencies.”
Nava was summarily transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of possession for sales of a controlled substance, sales of a controlled substance, possession for sales of a dangerous drug, and sales of a dangerous drug, with his bail set at $100,000.
Photo: Courtesy VCSD PCU
