Last Updated on January 12, 2023 by CCAR Staff
BREA — A 31-year-old Anaheim man was behind bars today on suspicion of possession and transportation of marijuana with a street sales value as high as $500,000, according to Brea police.
Tomas Antonio Linares was arrested Saturday afternoon based on a tip from a witness who reported a suspicious vehicle parked in the employee lot of a Bank of America office at 275 S. Valencia Ave., according to Brea police Lt. Darrin Devereux.
The tip on the U-Haul van prompted police to check out the vehicle containing four large garbage bags, with one that turned out to hold smaller bags of marijuana, Devereux said.
Undercover detectives on surveillance watched the van until 4:45 p.m. when Linares got in and drove away, the lieutenant said.
Police stopped the van in Placentia, where 107 pounds of marijuana was seized in the van, Devereux said. Wholesale, in bulk, the drug was worth about $107,000, but when packaged into smaller bags for sale, the profit could zoom up to $500,000, he sad.
Police cited the case as a good example of the effectiveness of the admonition, “If you see something, say something,” Devereux said.
Linares was being held in the Orange County Jail without bail.
