Baby Formula Boost Snares Suspected Drug Traffickers

Overview

• Type: drugs

Search and arrest under way (PPD)

PLEASANTON – Undercover police officers arrested two suspected drug traffickers last week, after they allegedly tried to steal $1,800 worth of powdered baby formula—a commonly used cutting agent for illicit narcotics.

Shortly before 6 p.m. last Tuesday, officers saw two men fleeing from the Safeway supermarket at 1701 Santa Rita Road, located in the Mission Plaza shopping center.

The officers pursued the men as they drove northbound on Santa Rita Road for about a half mile, until they stopped near Morganfield Road, where both suspects were arrested.

Police recovered the baby formula, along with suspected heroin already prepackaged for sale, and other evidence of narcotics trafficking.

The suspects, 35-year-old David V. Brown and Sean Ward, 29, both of Oakland, were transported to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, and each booked on multiple narcotics charges early on September 6.

Brown faces felony charges for possession of a controlled substance for sale, selling or offering a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance; and two misdemeanor charges for possession of narcotics and possession of a controlled substance.

Brown remains in custody in lieu of $20,000 bond, and he’s scheduled to appear at the East County Hall of Justice on September 12.

Ward faces felony charges for possession of a controlled substance for sale, possession of a controlled substance, second degree burglary, and unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle. Bail for Ward’s release was set at $40,000, and he’s scheduled to appear at the East County Hall of Justice on September 14.

Both men have a history of arrests for narcotics possession.