Sheriff's drug unit arrests suspected fentanyl dealer in Jamestown | News

On Wednesday morning, drug agents obtained a search warrant and searched a Jamestown residence with the assistance of the county probation department's high-risk surveillance team and sheriff's detectives.

Fentanyl, methamphetamine, drug packaging, digital scales and drug paraphernalia were found in the house, the press release said.

Curtis and Chiodo were arrested at the scene and booked into the Dambacher Detention Center in Sonora. They are charged with distribution of methamphetamine and fentanyl and operating a drug house (both felonies) and possession of drugs and drug paraphernalia (a misdemeanor).

Jail records show Curtis was additionally arrested on suspicion of committing a crime while out on bail (a felony) and destruction of evidence (a misdemeanor). Both remained behind bars Thursday, with Curtis' bail set at $20,000 and Chiodo's at $10,000.

The records showed that Curtis' address, 18200 Ninth Avenue in Jamestown, matched the address of the house searched. Chiodo's address was 18700 Lower Quail Mine Road in Sonora.

Faustino Joseph Vera, 31, of the 2600 block of Riverbend Drive in Modesto, was also arrested at Curtis' home Wednesday morning. He is suspected of “regularly supplying fentanyl” to Curtis and Chiodo, the news release said.

Vera was booked into the Dambacher Detention Center on suspicion of drug trafficking and distribution (both felonies) and being in a place where drugs were consumed (a misdemeanor). Jail records show he was released hours later after posting $20,000 bail.

The sheriff's office pointed out in a press release Thursday that the house where the three were arrested was less than 1,000 feet from an elementary school, which could lead to higher penalties if convicted.

Sheriff David Vasquez recently announced at a county board meeting that his agency will now dedicate the Tuolumne Narcotics Team “100%, full-time, to combating narcotics trafficking in this community.”

Vasquez reported at the Aug. 6 public meeting that there were 15 drug overdose deaths in the county in the first year of the year, two fewer than the total for all of 2023. Fentanyl was detected in nine of those deaths, Vasquez said.

“It's important that the people who are selling fentanyl and other drugs here in the community know that we will pursue them relentlessly with all our strength and persistence,” he said at the meeting. “We're not going to throw up our hands in despair and say it's the law or that the penalties aren't harsh enough. We're going to make drug sales in this community as unpleasant as possible.”

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the powerful drug is considered the main cause of the increase in both fatal and non-fatal overdoses in California and across the United States in recent years.

In 2022, the latest year for which CDC data is available, nearly 108,000 Americans died from drug overdoses. Nearly 70% of these deaths were related to synthetic opioids, primarily illicitly manufactured fentanyl and similar drugs.

The county health department is making free kits containing naloxone (the generic name for Narcan) available for pickup Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 20111 Cedar Road N. in Sonora.

A local group called the Fentanyl Awareness Coalition of Tuolumne County and Surrounding Areas, or FACTS, is organizing a free event on September 21 at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds to raise awareness about the deadly drug.

The group was founded by several local mothers whose children have died from fentanyl overdoses in recent years.

The Sheriff's Office also asks anyone with information about drug sales in the county to contact drug investigators through the agency's tip line at (209) 533-5884.