Roundup: Port Hueneme shooting victim named, Simi police dismantle drug delivery group
Here's a roundup of recent incidents and announcements from Ventura County and regional agencies:
Shooting victim identified
Authorities have named the victim of a fatal shooting in Port Hueneme on Jan. 5.
Marvin Aguilar Mendoza, 25, was an Oxnard resident, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office. The cause of death was a gunshot wound of the neck and chest, the medical examiner found, and the manner was homicide.
The shooting was reported around 11 p.m. on the 5th in the 2600 block of Yardarm Avenue, Port Hueneme Police Department officials said. An officer in the area on an unrelated call heard the gunshot and responded almost immediately, authorities said.
Mendoza was found in the front yard of a residence, where police and emergency medical personnel rendered aid before he was taken by ambulance to Ventura County Medical Center.
Chief Michael Federico said Friday police believe Mendoza was shot on the west side of Yardarm and crossed over to the east side of the street after getting shot. Alleys that run parallel to named streets in the Marina Village neighborhood provide residents access to garages and utility areas at the rear of residences.
On Wednesday, a trail of dried blood remained visible on a walkway near a laundry room that opens to the alley. Neighbors told a Star photographer the shooting took place in the alley. Federico said the victim apparently walked between the closely spaced buildings as he made his way to the east side of the street.
Mendoza collapsed on a lawn outside a home. Federico said the home wasn't connected to the victim or the shooting.
Both the medical examiner and police said Mendoza was struck by a single round even though the fatality was attributed to neck and chest wounds. Federico said a round can travel through a body after impact.
Last week's homicide was near the site of a fatal shooting on July 9, when 18-year-old Pedro Gomez Jr. of Camarillo was shot near Anchor Avenue, a block west of Yardarm. The two streets share an alley. A homemade memorial for Gomez stood in the alley Wednesday near the site of the Jan. 5 incident. Federico said the two shootings are unrelated. No arrest has been made in the Gomez shooting.
The Jan. 5 shooting was Ventura County's second homicide of the new year. On Jan. 1, shortly after midnight, 34-year-old Jose Juarez was shot in his south Oxnard neighborhood while walking home from a party at a nearby home, Oxnard police officials said. No arrests have been made.
As of Friday, no suspects had been identified in the Jan. 5 homicide in Port Hueneme. The case remains under active investigation, Federico said. Anyone with information has been asked to call Detective Sgt. Jesus Chavez at 805-986-6615.
Simi police help dismantle drug operation
The Simi Valley Police Department helped take down a drug delivery service that had been under investigation since January 2019, the agency said in a news release Friday night.
The department's special investigative unit worked with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the IRS. The probe began in Simi Valley, the release said.
Customers ordered drugs via text message, authorities allege, and delivery drivers brought narcotics to designated locations. The service operated in Simi Valley, the San Fernando Valley and across state lines in Nevada, Utah and New York, requiring a joint investigation involving multiple jurisdictions.
A federal indictment released by the U.S. Attorney in November alleges multiple Simi Valley deliveries where a driver brought cocaine to a confidential informant at a Tapo Canyon Road location near Highway 118. The group delivered both cocaine and oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, prosecutors said. The indictment covers alleged crimes in Los Angeles and Ventura counties and lists one incident involving a fatal overdose.
Investigators ultimately linked four fatal overdoses to the delivery service, according to Simi Valley police. The fatalities came from counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl.
A Calabasas man, Erick Oved Estrada, who was 35 when arrested in November, was identified as the head of the operation. At least five alleged co-conspirators, including Estrada's wife, worked with him, Simi officials said.
Estrada and three others pleaded not guilty to all charges when arraigned in federal court in Los Angeles in November. As of December, all parties had been arraigned and are awaiting trial, according to Simi police.
Federal prosecutors say Estrada and his wife laundered proceeds through bank accounts of sham businesses and used the money for personal expenses including a Lamborghini and a Land Rover. Estrada reportedly ran the operation from the couple's Calabasas home.
Charges against Estrada include conspiracy, distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, money laundering and others. If convicted on all charges, he would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a maximum of life in prison, according to prosecutors.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Roundup: Port Hueneme shooting victim named, more news
