Drugs, weapons seized after two drug busts

Heroin, marijuana, cocaine, cash, weapons and a luxury car were seized in busts of two area drug-distribution rings late last week, landing four men behind bars, according to police.

Spokane police jailed Andrew Kerr, 19, on Friday. He faces two criminal drug counts after police used an undercover informant to purchase cocaine from him multiple times dating back to September. In a separate bust, three Spokane Valley men were arrested Saturday after members of a local and federal task force discovered heroin prepared for sale at apartments near Mirabeau Meadows.

Kerr drove a white Jaguar, believed to have been purchased with drug money, to multiple meetings with an undercover police informant where cocaine was exchanged for marked cash, according to court documents. At the most recent alleged sale, which took place last week, Kerr allegedly weighed and packaged cocaine powder in the kitchen of a home on East Empire Avenue, the informant told police.

A search of the Empire residence and a house in Cheney that Kerr was renting produced $3,000 in cash, a revolver, a shotgun and more than 25 illegal marijuana plants, according to court documents.

Spokane police Capt. Brad Arleth praised the investigative work of the newly formed Tactical Operations Unit, blending investigations into drug and property crimes that resulted in Kerr’s arrest.

“By focusing on those two types of crimes simultaneously, we’re able to start targeting the proper people and putting them behind bars,” Arleth said.

One of the weapons was stolen in California in 2010, Arleth said. While more charges may be pending related to the firearm, police do not anticipate any more arrests from the drug seizure.

Kerr has been released from custody pending trial, according to jail records.

In the case of the heroin found over the weekend, Ramus Hugo-Ruez, 33, Johnathan Barrera-Ira, 30, and Jose Barrera, 44, face various charges.

Detectives discovered 50 small packages of heroin ready for sale, according to court documents. Searching another apartment in the complex last month, detectives found a pound of methamphetamine they tied to Barrera-Ira and Barrera.