Marin investigators arrested two alleged drug dealers in Larkspur after setting up a bust in Mill Valley.
The case started when an undercover detective with the Marin County Special Investigations Unit obtained the phone number of a potential drug dealer, according to the sheriff’s office. Investigators suspected the dealer of selling methamphetamine and fentanyl in Marin and elsewhere in the Bay Area.
A detective called the number and arranged a deal for a quarter pound of methamphetamine and an ounce of fentanyl. The transaction site was set for Friday near the Muir Woods Lodge on Shoreline Highway in Mill Valley.
Two alleged dealers showed up for the transaction. When detectives moved in, the men ran away, leaving their vehicle behind. Investigators kept the vehicle under surveillance until the men came back for it, then followed them.
The California Highway Patrol stopped the vehicle in the area of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard at Larkspur Landing Circle. Investigators searched the vehicle and the men and found about a quarter ounce of suspected meth, cocaine, empty narcotics packaging, cash and the cellphone used to arrange the transaction, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Adam Schermerhorn.
Investigators suspect the men discarded the other drugs they intended to sell.
Detectives booked Fredesbindo Espinoza Flores, 23, and his brother, Jose Espinoza Flores, 22, into the Marin County Jail on suspicion of transporting drugs for sale and conspiracy. Their bail amount was set at $30,000, and they bailed out.
The suspects are Oakland residents. Fredesbindo Espinoza Flores has a criminal history involving drug sales in San Francisco, Schermerhorn said.
The Marin County District Attorney’s Office is waiting for investigative reports and had filed no charges as of Tuesday.
The Espinozas could not be reached for comment.
The Marin County Special Investigations Unit is a multiagency team whose primary focus is drug probes. The sheriff’s department formed it after its predecessor, the Marin County Major Crimes Task Force, disbanded in 2020. The unit receives staff support or funding from law enforcement agencies and municipal governments.
The Specialized Investigative Unit, in conjunction with the county’s Coordination of Probation Enforcement Unit, made 160 arrests in 2022, according to their annual statistics. They also reported confiscating $203,465.01 in cash, 13 guns, 2.65 pounds of cocaine and 13.2 pounds of fentanyl last year, along with other drug seizures.