- LAKE COUNTY NEWS REPORTS
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Search warrant leads to arrests and seizure of fentanyl and methamphetamine
Arrested as a result of the search warrant were James Biocca Jr., 54, of Healdsburg, and Melody Yadon, 51, of Willits, according to Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen.
Rasmussen said that at 3 p.m. Monday several Lakeport Police Officers served a Lake County Superior Court search warrant on a storage unit locker in Kelseyville that was under the control of Biocca and Yadon.
The probable cause for this search warrant was based on Biocca’s arrest on Feb. 7, when he was in possession of approximately 98.8 grams of fentanyl and approximately 21.3 grams of methamphetamine that were packaged for sale, Rasmussen said.
At approximately 4:30 p.m. Monday, while officers were searching the storage locker, Rasmussen said Biocca and Yadon showed up at the storage facility in the same vehicle Biocca was driving when he was previously arrested.
Before their arrival, Rasmussen said the officers had already located suspected methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in the locker.
Officers contacted Biocca in the storage facility office and arrested him. Rasmussen said the officers subsequently located methamphetamine in Biocca’s front sweatshirt pocket.
Rasmussen said officers also contacted Yadon who was still in the vehicle and arrested her. The vehicle was searched incident to the arrests and additional methamphetamine and fentanyl were found.
During Monday’s investigation, other items of evidence including $1,042 were located which indicated the drugs were possessed for sale, Rasmussen said.
Biocca and Yadon were transported to the Lake County Correctional Facility for booking. During the booking process, Rasmussen said Yadon was found to have additional fentanyl hidden on her person.
Biocca was booked for possession for sale and transportation of a controlled substance, possession for sale and transportation of a narcotic, possession of pepper spray by a convicted felon, conspiracy to commit a felony, and committing a felony while out on bail for a felony. Officers sought a bail enhancement on him and a superior court judge ordered bail of: $250,000, Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen said Biocca has an extensive criminal history that includes drug arrests, burglary, vehicle theft, receiving stolen property, evading a peace officer and six prior felony convictions.
Yadon was booked for possession for sale and transportation of a controlled substance, possession for sale and transportation of a narcotic, and conspiracy to commit a felony. Yadon’s bail was set by the bail schedule at $10,000.
Between the items located at the search warrant and those found in possession of Biocca and Yadon, Rasmussen said officers seized approximately 50.7g of methamphetamine and approximately 36.2g of suspected fentanyl.
In total, between the two recent arrests of Biocca, Rasmussen said officers have seized approximately 72 grams (2.54 ounces) of suspected methamphetamine and approximately 135 grams (4.76 ounces) of suspected fentanyl.
Similar to the Feb. 7 seizure, some of the fentanyl seized on Monday was a type commonly known as “rainbow fentanyl,” which means the drugs were multicolored to make them look more attractive.
According to the DEA, just 2 milligrams of fentanyl is considered to be enough to cause an overdose and kill someone.
Based on this data, the amount of fentanyl seized Monday could have killed up to 18,100 people. The amount seized between these two separate arrests could have killed up to 67,500 people, Rasmussen said.