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Santa Maria police seize firearms during drug bust, DUI arrest

March 18, 2026

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A pair of separate incidents Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning led two arrests and Santa Maria police seizing firearms.

First, officers contacted suspects during what appeared to be a drug deal. The incident resulted in an arrest along with the seizure of narcotics, cash and a stolen handgun, according to the Santa Maria Police Department.

In the second incident, police arrested a driver for driving under the influence. During the arrest, officers discovered the driver had a loaded handgun inside their vehicle.

“Two separate cases. Same outcome. Illegal firearms removed from our community,” the Santa Maria Police Department stated in a social media post.

 


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Again, NO NAMES of the arrested are provided.


The is very little understanding of the required 5 W’s in any written piece.


Fail!


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There is a very good reason why no names are mentioned. This is usually because the ones who got arrested have agreed to talk and work as informants for the sheriffs department. This means charges are being withheld pending completion of their agreement (usually it’s “tell of three and go free”). So, when you see these posted without names listed, believe this: those arrested, are working with the police. They are snitches. That is 100 percent the truth.


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Sorry, I wholly disagree. The topic of perp names is entirely omitted.


If CCN cannot obtain their names, then at minimum, report what was told to them as to why their names are being withheld.


Lying by omission is also a thing.

^—- I believe this to be the case here.


Or just plain bad “reporting.”


Either option is unacceptable in regards to legit reporting of the news.


1

You can disagree, that’s fine before you do, consider this: If it was simply poor news reporting as you have suggested, then why is it that every other news article on this same report also fails to mention any names of those arrested? It is not si ply a case of information that is omitted as you suspect. It’s information being withheld by the sheriffs department. If you were to inquire about the names to the Sheriffs department, most likely they would tell you something like this, “the information is being withheld pending further investigation which technically is true, informants who agree to work of their cases are providing information essential to them getting more and bigger arrests.


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Think about it: If they listed the names of the people Arrested and they are working as informants, no court records will show up, so they cannot list the names of their informants because when you do a public search under court records, nothing under their name would show up, this would compromise the secrecy of their informants and reveil them as informants and they would be of no value with their cover blown.


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