Juan Manuel Cisneros Gavia, 41, of Santa Barbara has been arrested on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine for sale, possession of heroin for sale, being armed with a firearm in the commission of a drug offense, and child endangerment.
Six children are among those who share the home where Gavia resides, including his own 3-year-old son.
For the last several weeks, Santa Barbara Police Department narcotics detectives had been investigating methamphetamine sales taking place from a residence in the 1100 block of Indio Muerto Street.
Their investigation culminated with a search warrant being obtained for Gavia’s residence, which they served Tuesday evening.
Just prior to the warrant service, detectives conducting surveillance observed Gavia perform two hand-to-hand drug transactions outside of his home.
At 5:10 p.m. Tuesday, Gavia was detained during a traffic stop and his residence was searched. There, detectives found 9.65 ounces of methamphetamine packaged for sale in 322 bindles, .5 grams of heroin, $3,000 in cash and other indicia of drug sales. They also found three loaded handguns that Gavia had staged in the premises: a .22 caliber pistol, a .25 caliber pistol and a .38 caliber revolver.
Some of the drugs and at least one of the handguns were accessible to children.
Gavia was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on the aforementioned charges with a bail amount of $100,000.
— Sgt. Riley Harwood is a public information officer for the Santa Barbara Police Department.