Photo: Courtesy VCSD Narcotics Street Team: Evidence Collected
Written By: Robert L. McCullough
In their ongoing efforts to deal with the surge in drug overdoses throughout the county, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Street Team working out of the Camarillo Patrol Station works aggressively to find those responsible for the sales and distribution of fentanyl.
According to VCSD spokesman Sgt. John Hajducko, those efforts continue to produce results on an almost daily basis. Evidence of that came on the afternoon of September 23rd with the arrest of 23-year-old Oxnard resident Steven Viramontes. Viramontes was first identified as a suspected fentanyl dealer on July 26th when deputies were called to a Camarillo residence “in reference to a subject who had overdosed on counterfeit pills containing fentanyl.”
The ensuing investigation indicated that Viramontes had sold the pills to the victim through “various social media sites” where he openly advertised illicit drugs for sale and routinely “set up transactions with customers throughout Ventura County.” Pursuant to their ongoing investigation, the Narcotics Street Team detectives established surveillance of Viramontes on September 23rd .Once he was out in the open, detectives “attempted to contact” Viramontes, but when he saw the cops approaching, he took off running on foot. Cops may not always be long distance runners, but this wasn’t their first track meet; with resources always at the ready to deal with fleeing suspects, Viramontes was brought to ground in fairly short order and taken into custody.
He was then transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on charges of possession for sales of a controlled substance, sales of a controlled substance, and resisting arrest. He remains in custody with his bail set at $250,000.
