12 people arrested in SLO County on suspicion of trafficking heroin, meth from Mexico
A grand jury indicted 13 people for allegedly conspiring to sell and transport narcotics across San Luis Obispo County, according to the county District Attorney’s office.
The drug trafficking operation was centered in Paso Robles and operated out of multiple locations within the county, including one residential property next to Paso Robles High School on Veronica Drive, District Attorney Dan Dow said in a news release Friday.
The suspects have been charged with conspiring to sell and the transport for sale of heroin and methemphetamine, the release said.
According to the District Attorney’s Office, authorities identified the leader of the drug ring as Rogelia “Rabi” Miranda, 42, of Paso Robles.
Prosecutors said Miranda regularly coordinated with a supply source in Mexico and traveled to a stash house in the Los Angeles area to retrieve the drugs before returning to Paso Robles for distribution.
Twelve of the 13 defendants have been arrested and 11 appeared in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court on Friday, the release said.
One defendant, 33-year-old Angela Kapp, of Paso Robles, has posted bail, and awaits a March 18 arraignment, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Another defendant, Samantha Hogle, 53, of Paso Robles, remains out of custody subject to arrest on a felony warrant, the agency said.
Prosecutors presented evidence of the operation to a criminal grand jury over six days after which the indictments were issues on Monday, the District Attorney’s Office said.
The indictments were sealed by the court until the suspects were arrested and brought before a judge for arraignment, the release said.
Prosecutors presented evidence of the operation to a criminal grand jury over six days after which the indictments were issues on Monday.
The indictments were sealed by the court until the suspects were arrested and brought before a judge for arraignment, the release said.
The others indicted by the grand jury are:
▪ Natasha Pringle, 30, of Paso Robles;
▪ Misty “Chicken” Ashley, 45, of Paso Robles;
▪ David “Bologna” Henry, 41, of Paso Robles;
▪ Ecstacia “Tacey” Willis, 24, of Paso Robles;
▪ Sean Loppnow, 35, of Templeton;
▪ Randy Jordan, 49, of Santa Maria;
▪ David Merino, 49, of Grover Beach;
▪ Robert “Bodie” Dugger, 37, of Paso Robles;
▪ Robert Bridgman, 36, of Paso Robles, and
▪ Casey Cravens, 29, of Paso Robles.
The grand jury hearing and indictment were the result of a roughly year-long investigation led by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Unit, the District Attorney’s Office said.
The indictments carry charges that vary based on each individual’s alleged role.
“I am extremely pleased with the efforts of the sheriff’s Special Operations Unit to take down a major drug trafficking organization that was operating in San Luis Obispo County,” county Sheriff Ian Parkinson said in the release. “I am grateful that working with our partners, Homeland Security Investigations, County Probation Department and the District Attorney’s Office that we were able to get the drugs and those dealing the drugs off the streets.”
In the release, Dow said the unit “tirelessly investigated and has now dismantled this large and dangerous criminal enterprise in our community.”
““Trafficking of hard drugs is an extreme danger to the health and safety of our community, especially to our youth and young adults,” Dow said.
The defendants will appear again in count on Monday.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 5:15 PM.
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