An undercover operation Tuesday night led to the seizure of at least 4,400 grams of methamphetamine, 275 grams of cocaine and 209 grams of heroin and the arrest of three men.
According to an Odessa Police Department report, undercover officers began watching a house directly across the street from Dowling Elementary School on Maple Avenue after receiving a tip methamphetamine was being sold from there.
On April 4, officers saw Richard Villareal and Miguel Vargas leave the house at different times and get into cars that then drove away. They pulled over the Honda Villareal was in after the driver failed to use his turn signal at North Dixie Boulevard and Wilshire Drive and a canine officer alerted to drugs in the car, the report stated.
Officers found 62.7 grams of meth under the passenger seat where Villareal was sitting and he was arrested for manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance, a first-degree felony, the report stated.
When officers tried to pull over Vargas, he tried to evade them and they saw him throw a plastic bag out the passenger door window, according to the report. Vargas eventually pulled over and officers recovered the bag, which had an unspecified amount of methamphetamine in it.
Vargas was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance and the third-degree felonies of evading with a motor vehicle and tampering with evidence.
After officers obtained a search warrant for the house, they found Christopher Gonzales inside and 3.5 grams of methamphetamine in a pouch. Gonzales said the meth was his, according to the report.
They also found 4,397.1 grams of meth, 274.4 grams of cocaine and 209 grams of heroin in Gonzales’ bedroom along with a digital scale, the report stated.
Gonzales was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance and he’s being held in the Ector County jail on a U.S. Marshal’s hold and an $8,000 surety bond.
Vargas and Villareal are also being held by the U.S. Marshal’s, but Villareal is also being kept on a $75,000 surety bond.
