Father, son and two others face 18 felony drugs and weapons charges
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Violent Criminal Apprehension Unit conducted a surveillance operation on suspected drug dealers that concluded with the arrest of four suspects including a father and son.
Undercover detectives determined in their surveillance that numerous drug deals were taking place from a residence at 1910 East Brill Street in Phoenix, and some of those drug deals were delivered by bicycle to neighboring users.
One of the suspects, operating out of the residence, was stopped by detectives departing the home in his vehicle, and heroin, methamphetamine and handguns were seized. The suspects arrested are Mark Rodriguez Jr., age 27, Mark Anthony Rodriguez Sr., age 51, Lucy Saiz, age 50, and Carlos Chavez.
Rodriguez and son are known to be members of a local street gang. The suspects are now facing a combined 18 felony charges related to drugs and weapons possession.
The arrests came less than 48 hours after a crime suppression operation initiated by Sheriff Joe Arpaio to root out gang activity in neighborhoods.
“Gangs, drugs and guns are going to be cleared out of these neighborhoods,” said Arpaio. “We will continue to crackdown on these types of illegal gang operations.”
The drugs seized from the house have a street value of nearly $20,000.
According to Sheriff Arpaio, a search warrant was executed and the following were seized:
- 270 grams of heroin
- 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine
- five (5) handguns
- $1600 cash
- weighing devices
- ledger and packaging material consistent with the drug trade