Full Notification

An approximately two-month narcotics investigation culminated with the arrest of Ana Teresa Morales, age 29, of Santa Barbara, for possession of methamphetamine for sale, possession of cocaine for sale, transportation of methamphetamine, and child endangerment.  Morales has three children; ages four, nine, and fourteen.

In December 2013 detectives from the Santa Barbara Police Department’s Narcotics Unit initiated an investigation into Morales’s narcotics activities.  On February 27, 2014 the detectives obtained a search warrant for Morales’s residence on the 2500 block of De La Vina Street along with any vehicles and storage areas under her control.  On the morning of February 28, 2014 detectives conducted surveillance of Morales and her residence in preparation for executing the search warrant.  She was contacted after she was observed dropping her two youngest children off at their respective schools.  Morales’s vehicle was searched and two baggies, each containing one gram of methamphetamine, were found in the unlocked center console of the car.  The drugs had been in close proximity and accessible to the two children that had been seen moments earlier in the vehicle.  Morales was subsequently arrested.  The detectives then searched Morales’s residence and recovered additional quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine.  Some of the drugs were stored in the bathroom of the residence, including inside a cup on the bathroom counter next to the family’s toothbrushes.  These drugs, too, would have been within easy reach of the children living there and if ingested could have caused injury or death.  In total, the detectives seized 7.5 ounces of methamphetamine and .5 ounces of cocaine, with a value of $5,300.00, and $485.00 in cash, from Morales’s home and car.

Care was arranged for Morales’s children and this case has been forwarded to Santa Barbara County Child Welfare Services for review.  Morales was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on the aforementioned charges with a bail amount of $100,000.00.