Four men and one woman were arrested after a confidential informant for Tucson police led the five to a business where more than a ton of marijuana had been planted by authorities, court records show.
The group was taken into custody earlier this week as they were loading up the drugs from the business, which they broke into to gain access, according to court documents released Thursday.
Hector Adrian Morando, Frank Bargas, Leonel Carbajal, Carlos Grijalva and Yvette Chavez were arrested on suspicion of possessing more than 2,200 pounds of marijuana with the intent to distribute.
According to court documents, the bust stems from a meeting that occurred Nov. 8 in Mesa between a confidential source for the Tucson Police Department and Morando — a known narcotics trafficker in the Tucson area who is also known to be involved in violent home invasion robberies in which drugs and money are sought, the document states.
People are also reading…
The pair had met up to discuss a pending home invasion robbery, during which Morando expressed interest in stealing a large amount of marijuana.
At that time, the informant told Morando he knew of a location where about 3,000 pounds were going to be dropped off, court documents state.
The delivery was to be made on Nov. 13 and Morando told the informant that in exchange for information, he would give him 7,500 pounds of the marijuana.
During that meeting, Tucson police placed a tracking device on Morando’s 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche.
On the day of the delivery, the informant called Morando and told him the marijuana had arrived and that he would need to come to Tucson to get it, the document said. Utilizing the tracker, police determined that Morando’s Avalanche was making its way to Tucson shortly after the call was made.
Tucson police officers, along with the SWAT team, proceeded to go to a business where they placed 112 bundles, or 2,400 pounds, of marijuana in a room in the business.
Shortly after 10:30 p.m., the informant and Morando met at the AM/PM convenience store at North Thornydale and Orange Grove roads where he gave Morando the address and suite number of the business.
Later on, two people would be seen entering the business and then five were seen loading boxes into two vehicles, documents state. As they were doing so, SWAT moved in and arrested Bargas, Carbajal, Grijalva and Chavez.
Morando drove away and headed to a residence where he would be taken in to custody as he attempted to leave in his Avalanche, documents state.
Authorities seized an AR-15 rifle along with two handguns at the scene.
Online court records show that Morando has been convicted of possesion of drug paraphernalia and of a marijuana violation.
