Fifteen Region III Narcotics Task Force agents and State Police uniform officers descended on the houses of two alleged Española drug dealers Feb. 5 and seized almost 60 grams of cocaine, according to State Police.
The homes of Efrain Ochoa Gonzales-Pinon, 27, and Jesus Manuel Valenzuela-Romo, 34, were raided simultaneously around 6 p.m., Lt. Juan Jose Martinez said. Agents found Gonzales-Pinon, his wife and three children (ranging in age from one week to 4 years old) at home when they executed the search warrant on the El Llano Road house.
Agents found 54.4 grams of cocaine, individually wrapped, in a laundry hamper in the bathroom. Digital scales were also found, but no paraphernalia or large stashes of cash were seized, Martinez said.
Meanwhile, Valenzuela-Romo, his wife, and three children (ages 5 to 8) were present at their home off North McCurdy Road when agents paid them a visit. Valenzuela-Romo also cooperated as agents seized 4.1 grams of cocaine, individually wrapped, and a single 12.8 gram stash of marijuana from a closet. No scales or paraphernalia were found at the Valenzuela-Romo residence, Martinez said.
Case workers from the state Children, Youth and Families Department made their own seizure at Valenzuela-Romo’s house. The three children were taken into custody because of suspicion that Valenzuela-Romo’s wife was involved in drug trafficking, Martinez said. Valenzuela-Romo’s wife has not yet been charged with any crime in connection with the raid, Martinez said.
Both men were charged with trafficking cocaine and transported to Rio Arriba County Jail in Tierra Amarilla. From there the two illegal Mexican immigrants were handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Martinez said.
The two households were raided simultaneously because Gonzales-Pinon and Valenzuela-Romo were believed to be working together, Martinez said.
Martinez did not supply information about how long the two men were being investigated by Region III, whether they were believed to be part of a larger organization or how information implicating them was received.
“We don’t like to reveal that,” Martinez said. “There’s a lot of dynamics involved in the investigation and techniques that we use to protect individuals.”
Martinez did say the two raids were the final two associated with a larger investigation that has netted previous arrests.