Is it a good idea to have three kilos of cocaine and 600 grand in cash sitting in your van at 17th and Shotwell streets? Probably not, and two people learned that the hard way in a recent Mission District drug bust.
An apparently suspicious van was parked at 17th and Shotwell streets on Thursday, May 30. SFPD received a tip that something sketchy may have been going on with that van. So they got a warrant to search said van, and as seen below, by golly did that tip prove to be correct.
Large quantities of various narcotics for sale along with over half a million US dollars were seized during the service of a search warrant thanks to the outstanding police work of plainclothes officers assigned to @SFPDMission and @SFPDTaraval.➡️ https://t.co/m419yekQKg pic.twitter.com/rVWwu1VLIU
— San Francisco Police (@SFPD) June 14, 2024
“Large quantities of various narcotics,” indeed.
SFPD says in a Friday press release that “Officers located and seized the following from inside the vehicle: large quantities of suspected narcotics including approximately 3 kilos of cocaine HCL, ketamine, mushrooms, acid, suspected MDMA, methamphetamine, and various other prescription narcotics as well as over $600,000 in US currency.”
Two suspects who are both 46 years old, Robert Pritchard and Ronald Butera, were both pulled out of that van and arrested, Kilos, as you would imagine, will account for additional charges. Both are also charged with possessing and transporting controlled substances, and Butera already had an outstanding warrant on him for other charges.
And according to KRON4, a tipster’s information led to the bust. “A community member alerted SFPD about a vehicle that may have been involved in drug distribution,” that station reports.
While arrests have been made, this remains an ongoing investigation. If you have any information, you’re asked to call the SFPD Tip Line at (415) 575-4444, or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the message with “SFPD.” Tipsters can remain anonymous.
Related: Authorities Seize $15,000 Worth of GHB From Marin Nail Salon [SFist]
Image via SFPD