Sacramento family demands apology after SWAT raid, case dismissed
A Sacramento couple is seeking accountability and an apology after a SWAT raid on their property led to the closure of their nearly 20-year-old business, despite charges being dropped.
Joseph Marques says a SWAT raid on his property last December disrupted his life and forced him to close his nearly 20-year-old security business, Sacramento Elite, even though the charges against him were later dropped.
While Joseph and his wife, Claudia Marques, were out of town on Dec. 4, 2025, their family was at home when the raid occurred.
“It was very traumatizing for them, and I don’t blame them,” Claudia said.
Claudia described the raid as chaotic, saying, “It was like SWAT team drones, helicopters, the whole nine, flash bombs on our vehicles. They ramraided our gates or doors to come into the house.”
Joseph said he watched the raid unfold on home security cameras.
That night, the SWAT team raided the property, and video from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office showed what appeared to be a marijuana store setup in the garage. Investigators said they believed Joseph was behind the operation, but he explained that the garage had been rented out for a cannabis-based pop-up vendor event.
“They came to me saying, ‘Hey, we want to rent your property,’ and I was like, ‘Hey, I can make an extra couple hundred for the night.’ If I had known what the outcome would’ve been, I would’ve never done that,” Joseph said.
The sheriff’s office said it seized over $2 million worth of processed marijuana, other drugs, and guns during the raid.
When asked if he had ever sold illegal narcotics at his home, Joseph said, “Never.”
Joseph and Claudia said the raid forced them to shut down their security business, claiming no one would work with them afterward.
“And whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? I was guilty before anything,” Joseph said.
“I think they are trying to save face, and that is the only thing they could come up with because we knew from the very beginning there was insufficient evidence,” Claudia said.
Joseph said he turned himself in after returning from vacation and was released hours later, but the damage was already done.
Joseph added that he has not recovered financially, saying, “I still can’t get a bank account. I went to the bank, and they said they don’t want to do business with me still, and I wasn’t even convicted.”
The couple is now asking for accountability from the sheriff’s office.
“They owe us an apology. I think they should take down their social media post about us with the narco-style music,” Joseph said.
The video referenced is currently on the sheriff’s office Facebook page. Claudia said she found the post discriminatory.
“Which I felt was very discriminatory. Like, he’s only half Mexican, he’s Portuguese. Why was that okay? Who okayed that?” she said.
The sheriff’s office declined to comment on the matter, deferring to the district attorney. The district attorney’s office has not yet responded to questions about why the case was dismissed.
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