Montecito – When it comes to property values, there are few places throughout the nation that exceed those of Santa Barbara County’s celebrity-filled Montecito and the classic ocean view neighborhood of Summerland—with one of the highest per-square-foot residential costs on the California coastline–immediately adjacent to the estates of Oprah Winfrey and her billionaire ilk. But Alejandro Jaimes Lopez found a way to make those exclusive land parcels more valuable.
Alejandro Jaimes Lopez
Lopez, an area landscaper, had been the subject of on ongoing “investigation by the Sheriff’s Department for more than a year” according to Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover in her report to the media. That protracted investigation was pursuant to a case in which three pounds of methamphetamine were seized by local law enforcement authorities; as the prime suspect in that case, Lopez had reportedly left the U.S. and fled to Mexico.
But when Lopez returned to the area to continue his work as a landscaper—and perhaps as a meth dealer—SBSD Narcotics Investigators were alerted to his local presence and surveillance of his movements was begun. When Lopez was spotted in Summerland’s Lookout Park—unique in its access to a popular beach—he was contacted by detectives and taken into custody on the warrant for the prior investigation. Immediately thereafter, Lopez’s vehicle was searched and more than two pounds of methamphetamine were quickly discovered. Further investigation led detectives to an exclusive Montecito home where Lopez had worked as a gardener, and additional methamphetamine was found on the premises, with evidence that he had been burying it in his client’s back yard.
Confiscated meth stash
“The homeowners were unaware of the criminal activity,” Hoover said.
Lopez was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on charges of possession and transport of a controlled substance for sale, with his bail set at $250,000.
Photos: Courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Narcotics United Reporting
Read more:
Santa Barbara Independent: Summerland Meth Arrest
Noozhawk: Deputies Arrest Suspected Meth Dealer
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