5 Arrested As Investigators Bust Oakland Drug Houses: Police

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Five people were arrested Wednesday in connection with multiple "drug houses" in Oakland, police said.

Police say the suspects were tied to drug trafficking and were arrested on suspicion of transportation and sales of illicit narcotics after boarding a Muni bus in San Francisco.

After arresting the suspects, officers with the San Francisco Police Department served warrants at four homes in Oakland connected with the suspects, authorities.

There, officers found over eight pounds of narcotics along with narcotics packaging equipment, packaging supplies, one rifle, one shotgun, two handguns, body armor, ammunition, over $10,000 in cash, digital scales, and money counters, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

Officers seized the items as part of the investigation, police said.

The suspects were identified by police as Oakland residents Eduardo Linares, 33; Francisco Cruz, 26; Nestor Reyes-Palma, 22; Nestor Quinonez-Cubas, 21; Wilmer Mendez-Raudales, 19.

They were each booked on suspicion of possession for sale of controlled substances, operating or maintaining a drug house, criminal conspiracy, transportation or sale of controlled substances, drug enhancement and receiving stolen property, authorities said.

Linares was also booked on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm, authorities said.

"Keeping dangerous drugs from coming to San Francisco has been SFPD’s top priority," SFPD Police Chief Derrick Lew said. " The SFPD will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to hold offenders accountable and to keep our neighborhoods safe."