Three alleged members of major heroin delivery operation arrested

Three members of a major heroin distribution organization, which delivered drugs to buyers across Ventura County, have been arrested, authorities said Friday.

Roberto Zaragoza, Victor Castillo and Jonathan Cruz-Diaz, all of Oxnard, were taken into custody Wednesday on suspicion of possessing $150,000 worth of heroin, said Ventura County sheriff’s Capt. Don Aguilar.

The men were significant members of an organization known as “The Boys,” which essentially operated by catering to their buyers’ needs, he said.

“It’s basically like a service,” Aguilar said. “This was a network that was covering the entire county.”

A buyer would typically dial a phone number and place an order for a specific amount of heroin, and then the men would deliver the drugs anywhere in Ventura County, authorities said.

Their countywide style of delivery made the organization unique because other drug operations often maintain specific neighborhood boundaries, Aguilar said.

Narcotics detectives began investigating the men in April after seeing heroin sales in Santa Paula, Ventura and Oxnard, the sheriff’s department said in a statement.

They discovered that Zaragoza, 22, was allegedly supplying the heroin, while Castillo, 22, and Cruz-Diaz, 24, were distributors, sheriff’s officials said.

Detectives served a warrant Wednesday at Zaragoza’s Oxnard home, where they found $10,000 in crash and 360 grams of tar and powder heroin, the department said in the statement.

At Castillo and Cruz-Diaz’s apartment, police reportedly found 27 balloons of packaged heroin and $6,400 in cash. Detectives also seized more than two pounds of heroin at a home in Oxnard.

Castillo was carrying 126 balloons of tar heroin when he was stopped by detectives, sheriff’s officials said.

Authorities said the organization commonly used children’s balloons to package its heroin.

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