MADNET agents arrest 11 suspects, seize pounds of pot and a stolen weapon
MADERA COUNTY – Eleven people are behind bars facing felony drug charges following two simultaneous raids in the Madera area on Thursday, Oct. 25.
Madera County Narcotics Enforcement Team (MADNET) agents, along with Madera County Sheriff’s Deputies and Madera Police Officers, busted a grow site and then a home used to process the marijuana, just south of the Madera Golf and Country Club, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
In custody are:
Ramiro Tapia, 43
Efrain Velasquez, 21
Wilfredo Cortez, 22
Daniel Ibarra, 26
Gerardo Zurita, 40
Reynaldo Zamora, 19
Freddy Ortega Gomes, 20
Alejandro Cardenas, 32
Sacramento Castrejon, 51
Silverio Cardenas, 41
Adrian Tapia, 38 
Madera County Sheriff John Anderson says Thursday’s mission was the direct result of a tip MADNET received about a grow site near Ellis and Road 28 ¼.
MADNET agents quickly discovered that the grow site was connected to a home located on Road 26, just a few miles south of the Madera Golf and Country Club.
Narcotic agents believe the suspects used the Road 28 ¼ property to grow their marijuana, and then transported the harvested buds to the home on Road 26 to be processed.
More than a 100 plants were seized at the Road 28 ¼ grow site, and three people were arrested.
Over 50 pounds of processed marijuana was then seized from the home on Road 26, along with a loaded shotgun that was determined to be stolen, according to the sheriff’s office. Eight more were arrested at the scene.
