Photo: Stock Image
Written By: Robert L. McCullough
While the legal possession of firearms continues to grow nationwide—recent statistics indicate that the number of citizens now approved to carry a concealed weapon has doubled in the past 24 months—law enforcement efforts to interdict and control a similar proliferation of illegally possessed guns are apparently increasing as well.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Detective Cory Woodward, his agency’s Gun Violence Reduction Program, funded by the California Department of Justice, continues to meet the challenge of “reducing gun violence by conducting investigations related to the seizure of firearms and ammunition from persons prohibited from possessing them.”
Above: Evidence seized during search warrants | Ventura County Sheriff’s Department
Evidence of their successful efforts came with the arrest of 26-year-old Port Hueneme resident Jose Vargas, pursuant to VCSD detectives “receiving information about his unlawful firearm activities and sales of controlled substances.” With that information in hand, deputies served a search warrant on Vargas’ residence on the afternoon of November 16th . That search led to the discovery of an unregistered semi-automatic handgun, ammunition, and quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and pharmaceuticals “possessed for the purposes of sales.”
Vargas was taken into custody and transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was booked on multiple charges including Possession of a Controlled Substance with a Loaded Firearm, Possession for Sales of a Controlled Substance, and Unlawful Transfer of a Firearm.
