Photo: Image of drug and cash evidence collected | Ventura County Narcotics Task Force
On August 18th, investigators attached to the Ventura County Narcotics Taskforce (VCAT) received intelligence indicating the impending arrival of a substantial consignment of methamphetamine earmarked for the community of Fillmore.
Acting on that information VCAT detectives staked out at a Fillmore McDonald’s parking lot where they observed 32-year-old Downey, Ca. resident Erick Montoya acting suspiciously in proximity to a blue Honda Sport Utility vehicle, Their surveillance, according to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Odilon Malagon, provided “probable cause to believe Montoya was in possession of methamphetamine.”
Acting upon their suspicions, the detectives promptly contacted and detained Montoya. The services of a trained Fillmore Police K-9 were invoked to conduct an olfactory survey of Montoya’s vehicle which led to the discovery of a 56-pound cache of methamphetamine “inside a cardboard box in the rear cargo section of the vehicle.”
In addition to the meth, cops found a sizeable sum in cash, multiple cellphones, and an unspecified amount of cocaine, the sum total of which has a street value in excess of $1.2 million.
Montoya was transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on multiple drug charges and where he remains in custody on a no-bail hold.
