APD arrests three in meth bust

Article author: 
Kyle Odegard
Article publisher: 
democratherald.com
Article date: 
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Article category: 
Crime
Medium
Article Body: 

Albany Police Department made its largest methamphetamine bust of the year so far on Wednesday, arresting three suspects and seizing three-fourths of a pound of the drug, falsified identification cards and a few thousand dollars in cash, said Sgt. Jerry Drum.

“From all appearances, they are experienced drug dealers,” Drum said.

Five children also were taken into custody by the state.

The police department’s newly formed Street Crimes Unit received information of possible drug dealing happening at the Sheffield Apartments, 725 Davidson St. S.E. The arrests came there at about 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Florencia Isabel Mendoza-Jimenez, 37, her husband Aurelio Ramirez-Quiroz, 26, and her brother Isidro Silva-Ferreti, 30, were each charged in Linn County Circuit Court on Thursday afternoon with delivery and possession of methamphetamine and delivery of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of a school.

Mendoza-Jimenez and Ramirez-Quiroz also were charged with five counts each of first-degree child neglect. Ramirez-Quiroz and Silva-Ferreti were each charged with first-degree possession of a forged document, as each had a falsified Social Security card, according to court documents.

Judge Carol Bispham set security in all three cases at $500,000, noting that the charged offenses posed a risk to the public, that the defendants did not have strong ties to the area, and that they faced prison time if convicted, thereby creating a flight risk.

She added that there were federal immigration holds on all three suspects. Even if they posted bail, they could be removed from the United States and thereby fail to appear for court.

Drum said that the suspects are Mexican.

He added that a typical user amount of methamphetamine is about a half-gram, which typically sells for about $50. There are roughly 340 grams in three-quarters of a pound, so the street value of the methamphetamine seized Wednesday, if broken down, would be well more than $30,000.