By F. Scott Faulkner
Ventura CA –
An investigation by the Ventura County Fentanyl and Overdose Crimes Units (VC FOCUS) led
to the arrest of 24-year-old Woodland Hills, Ca. resident Ronald Joseph, suspected of peddling
counterfeit Oxycodone pills containing fentanyl to residents in Ventura County.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. John Hajducko, detectives
discovered Joseph “advertising the pills on social media” and concocted a scheme of
“undercover purchases” to confirm his illicit marketing activities. Once that operation was under
way, surveillance conducted by VC FOCUS and the Thousand Oaks Police Directed
Enforcement Unit determined that Joseph had “a network of local customers within Ventura
County” to whom he made regular deliveries.
On November 12 detectives detained Joseph in Newbury Park while he was conducting his
narcotics transaction. A search warrant was served at his Woodland Hills apartment, where
the cops seized more than 1,000 counterfeit pills and a handgun. Joseph, a documented Los
Angeles gang member and a convicted felon on active parole with the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, was promptly taken into custody and transported to Ventura
County Jail.
Joseph remains in custody, charged with possession and sales of controlled substances,
possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person. Due to
his parole status, he remains in custody on a no-bail hold.
