A Vallejo day care center and a motel were two of multiple locations targeted by federal and Solano County law enforcement agencies recently in an operation that seized 16 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 100,000 fentanyl pills, a half pound of cocaine, 24 firearms, and four machine gun conversion devices.
Ten people were arrested Thursday and Feb. 20, Vallejo police, the FBI and other federal officials announced at a news conference Thursday afternoon. Officers arrested eight suspects on federal firearm and drug trafficking warrants and two on state warrants.
In the works for about a year, the operation targeted gang members and others known to traffic guns and drugs.
Vallejo police are using a task force approach to target gun crime through the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Public Safety Partnership program. The program provides evidence-based training and technical assistance to help address violent crime associated with guns, gangs, and drugs.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California Michele Beckwith said one of the targets was the Brown Brotherhood gang, which she said is affiliated with the larger Surenos gang and has operated in Vallejo since at least the 1990s.
Officers served warrants at multiple Vallejo locations and in Dixon, Fairfield, and Suisun City.
“I just want to point out one surprise that came up in the search warrants that were executed (Thursday),” Beckwith said. “One of the locations — where they found 12 firearms, a silencer and M-80 explosives 11,000 suspected fentanyl pills and $100,000 in suspected drug cash — was actually at a day care location.”
Beckwith said a parent attempted to drop off a child at Lady C’s Child Care on Avian Drive while officers were serving warrants for the daycare operator, who was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment, and her son, who was arrested on suspicion of firearms trafficking.
“I just offered that to show you that these really are public safety operations,” Beckwith said. “We’re focused on really bad actors in the community.”
“… (T)hese really are public safety operations. We’re focused on really bad actors in the community.”
Michele Beckwith, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California
Jennifer Cicolani, Special Agent in Charge of the San Francisco Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, said the Super 8 motel on Solano Avenue — where agents arrested four people Feb. 20 — was a hub for trafficking firearms. ATF focused on tracing guns through technology and calls for police service in the area.
“We did an investigation into people that were in and around that area and that’s where we came to seize those firearms,” Cicolani said.
Officers and SWAT teams from Vallejo, Fairfield, Vacaville, Dixon, and Suisun police departments; Solano County Sheriff’s Office; FBI agents from San Francisco and Sacramento offices, and ATF personnel were involved in the operation.
Vallejo police said it will continue this task force approach to stopping gun crimes.
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