Two people with alleged gang ties are in custody after the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office says it raided an East Side home and found a stash of drugs believed to be worth tens of thousands of dollars.
The raid Tuesday was the result of an undercover operation spanning several weeks, Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a news conference.
After obtaining a search warrant for a home in the 200 block of Nelson Avenue, a SWAT team and deputies with the agency’s organized crime unit arrived at the home Tuesday. There was a heavy presence of officers because investigators anticipated the suspects had weapons and might resist.
Authorities conducting surveillance spotted two people leaving the home. They carried out traffic stops, taking the two suspects into custody.
“We do that in an effort to lessen the chances that there’ll be a prolonged battle here at the residence,” he said. “We pick our time when we’re going to arrest these guys — at a time when it’s most advantageous for us, less advantageous for the crooks.”
The SWAT team then entered the home “without much resistance,” Salazar said.
Inside the home, authorities found a half-pound of powder cocaine, several ounces of crack cocaine, a pound of methamphetamine, several pounds of “high-grade” marijuana and THC vape cartridges. Salazar estimated the street value of the drugs was in the tens of thousands.
“There’s no furniture in the home, which is pretty indicative of the fact that this was not a home they were living in; it was simply being used to further their drug trade,” Salazar said. “We believe at this point they were receiving powdered cocaine here, reconstituting it, cooking it out into crack here in the residence.”
Authorities also recovered a handgun, an AR-15 and a stolen pickup truck. The AR-15 was found propped up against a window “as if they were waiting for something,” Salazar said.
“These are all wood frame houses. Those AR rounds would go all the way through one of these houses, front to back,” he said. “I can’t even imagine. So thankfully, were were able to get in here and get these guys stopped, and we’re going to get them out of this neighborhood.
It is “highly likely” the two suspects arrested during the traffic stops will face federal charges, the sheriff said. He did not specify what state charges they face.
The sheriff’s office is expected to release the identity of the suspects in the coming days. They are believed to have gang ties, the sheriff said.
One of the suspects has a “lengthy” criminal history, according to Salazar, who said the suspect has faced about 19 different charges dating back years. The offenses include minor drug charges and parole violations.