Photo: Stock Image
Evidence of the demand for street drugs and illicit pharmaceuticals continues to surface with a recent spate of retail drug store burglaries. Individuals either suffering from the scourge of addiction to narcotics or looking to supply their criminal drug dealing enterprises appear to be targeting vulnerable pharmacies in the dark of night. 21-year-old Huntington Park resident Emmanuel Ojeda may well be such an individual.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sr. Deputy Robert Curiel, Ojeda was one of “several suspects” who broke into a Simi Valley drug store at approximately 3:00 a.m. on the morning of December 29, 2023. Less than an hour later, “two additional pharmacies” in nearby Thousand Oaks were targeted and broken into by “these same suspects.” All three burglary attempts, however, were thwarted, leaving the suspects frustrated in their attempts at thievery “due to strong security measures” at each location.
The ensuing investigation by the Thousand Oaks Detective Bureau and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Career Criminals Unit and Special Enforcement Unit led to the identification of Lynwood resident Daniel Godinez, who was contacted and arrested on April 16th . Charged with commercial burglary, Godinez was the subject of a further investigation.
Whether or not Godinez then identified Ojeda as a co-conspirator involved in the burglary attempts is unclear, but just two weeks later detectives traveled to Huntington Park where they found Ojeda relaxing at home…until they cuffed him and transported him to Ventura County Jail where he was booked on multiple burglary charges. Both Jeda and Godinez remain in custody with their bail set at $50,000 each.
