After a yearlong investigation that stretched from Long Beach to Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara Regional Narcotics Enforcement Team-a special unit comprised of members from different law enforcement agencies-toppled an alleged crime ring that had been trafficking cocaine, methamphetamines, and firearms. On July 25, seven search warrants were served in Santa Barbara, and 26 people were subsequently arrested.

According to law enforcement officials the organization was led by Dionisio Altamirano Ramirez, who lived on the 300 block of San Roque Rd., and its members included Abner “Daniel” Montano, Juan Carlos Ramirez, Fernando Lobato Rizo, Agustin Martinez Anorve, and Juan Angel Salas. The whole crew was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail. The ring’s alleged main supplier, Francisco Figueroa Hernandez, was arrested with several other suspects in Long Beach on October 2.

During last week’s raid, a methamphetamine lab was discovered in Long Beach, along with $61,000 in cash, automatic assault rifles, and other firearms, and two kilos of cocaine and a pound of methamphetamine valued at $200,000. All of this was seized by authorities. Law enforcement efforts were coordinated between agencies including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, the Santa Barbara Police Department, and the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

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