A Santa Barbara man who was accused of possessing heroin for sale earlier this year was arrested this week on the same charges.
Randall Leong, 29, was taken into custody Tuesday after narcotics detectives observed him driving through Carpinteria and searched his vehicle, which they say yielded heroin that was pre-packaged for sale, according to Sgt. Mark Williams of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
The most recent arrest came after detectives had received information during the last month that Leong was again selling heroin in the Santa Barbara area.
While Leong was driving northbound on Highway 101 through Carpinteria, sheriff’s deputies were contacted and assisted in conducting a traffic stop on the man.
A search warrant was served on Leong and his vehicle and “Leong was found to be concealing approximately one-fourth of an ounce of heroin, pre-packaged for sales on his person,” Williams said.
Leong was serving in the sheriff’s Custodial Facility at the Carpinteria Station because of his earlier offense, but after Tuesday’s arrest, he was booked into the Santa Barbara County Jail on charges of possession for sales of a controlled substance and transportation of a controlled substance.
Williams said that in January of this year, Leong was investigated for drug sales, and Santa Barbara Police Department narcotics detectives contacted him and a search warrant was served on him and his vehicle.
“As a result of that search, Leong was found in possession of over one ounce of heroin pre-packaged for sales,” Williams said, adding that he was arrested and booked on charges of possession for sales of heroin at the time.
Because Leong was out of custody on bail from his January arrest, bail was requested to be set at $100,000 after his arrest on Tuesday, Williams said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.