Siskiyou County’s new Domestic Highway Enforcement team makes second big bust – seizing 10 lbs of meth, 100’s of fentanyl pills
SISKIYOU COUNTY, Calif., — Barely one week after the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office implemented a new multi-agency Domestic Highway Enforcement (DHE) team, participating agents managed to make a second big bust, pulling around $17,000 worth of methamphetamine and fentanyl pills off the streets. The team was implemented on Feb. 1st by SCSO Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue in an effort to crack down on drug trafficking and other drug-related offenses along Interstate 5.
The Wednesday morning, Feb. 9th bust was the second time in just six days the new DHE agents made a significant drug seizure, after a Feb. 3rd stop led to the discovery of eleven pounds of cocaine and the arrest of a Santa Clara man. A teen who was in the vehicle at the time of that stop was later placed into protective custody with Child Protective Services.
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At around 11:10 a.m., a pair of DHE agents were conducting traffic enforcement along Interstate 5, south of Anderson Grade, when they conducted a traffic enforcement stop on a red SUV after observing several vehicle code violations.
Agents contacted the SUV’s occupants, with the driver later identified as 33-year-old Noel Suniga-Rosas and passenger identified as 33-year-old Maria Luisa Lorenzo-Pineda.
Just days into operation, members of Siskiyou County’s new Drug Highway Enforcement team made a second big bust, pulling ten pounds of methamphetamine and 100s of fentanyl pills – valued at $17,000 – off the streets. Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office photo
“During the course of the investigation the agent observed multiple criminal indicators that led him to believe that criminal activity was afoot,” Siskiyou County Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Jacobson explained after yesterday’s stop and arrests. “A search of the vehicle was conducted, and the agent located a large amount of methamphetamine and fentanyl being transported by the occupants.”
When one of the agents went to arrest the driver, he fled from the scene on foot but was captured and arrested several hundred yards north of the traffic stop. While the first agent was arresting the driver who fled, the other agent arrested the passenger who remained near the vehicle.
Agents ultimately located and seized eleven packages of suspected methamphetamine weighing approximately ten pounds, as well as 100s of M30 fentanyl pills weighing nearly two pounds.
Suniga-Rosas and Lorenzo-Pineda were both transported to the Siskiyou County Jail where they were booked on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine for sales, possession of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance for sales, transportation of a controlled substance, and criminal conspiracy – all felonies.
SEE RELATED: Siskiyou County’s new Domestic Highway Enforcement team makes 11 lb cocaine bust on second day of operations
“These arrests were the result of a multi-agency team specifically assembled by the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office to address the known problem of drug trafficking through Siskiyou County,” Jacobson went on to say. “The involved agents did an outstanding job in removing what amounted to be approximately $17,000 worth of methamphetamine and several hundred fentanyl pills from hitting the streets of different communities.”
“The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office and its law enforcement partners on this team are committed and will continue their efforts to combat drug trafficking occurring in our county,” he added.
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Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.