Santa Barbara sheriff’s office makes big drug, gun bust

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Santa Barbara County Sheriff's deputies arrested two men on drug and firearms charges Tuesday.

At around 8:30 a.m., sheriff's detectives served a search warrant at a home on the 800 block of Cieneguitas Road in unincorporated Santa Barbara County.

Deputies took into custody 25-year-old Mousa Altayyeb and 28-year-old Yousef Altayyeb of Santa Barbara

Around 10:05 a.m., a second search warrant was served just a few minutes away at a residence on the 4200 block of Pozzo Circle.

During these warrant services, detectives seized 334 grams of methamphetamine, 4 grams of cocaine, 84 grams of fentanyl “M30” pills, and evidence of narcotics sales. They also recovered a Ruger .38 Special revolver, a Sig Sauer P250 handgun, a Mossberg Maverick 12-gauge shotgun, a Smith and Wesson M&P15 rifle, four-30 round rifle magazines, and $22,111 in cash.

Both Mousa and Yousef were booked into the Santa Barbara County Main Jail on drugs and guns charges as well as charges of conspiracy. Both were released from custody on emergency no-bail due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office says the counterfeit “M30” pills that were seized were fentanyl made to look like prescription oxycodone. These counterfeit pills are an extremely dangerous part of the opioid epidemic and are responsible for numerous overdoses and deaths nationwide, the sheriff's office says.

More information about these counterfeit pills can be found on the Drug Enforcement Agency’s website.