Cathedral City man & woman arrested after drug raids

Criminal charges could be filed as early as Friday against two Cathedral City residents arrested in raids this week that turned up more than 70 pounds of marijuana and thousands of dollars worth of cocaine and methamphetamine.

Juan Franco, 34, and Amanda Marie Parada, 31, were arrested Wednesday by deputies serving search warrants in the 68900 block of Tortuga Road and the 323000 block of Monte Vista Road, sheriff’s Deputy Armando Munoz said.

Both were booked on suspicion of possession of drugs for sale and drug smuggling, jail records show.

At the Tortuga Road location, deputies recovered about $14,000 in cash, Munoz said.

In the Monte Vista Road raid, deputies found the pot, about 40 grams of meth and about 20 grams of cocaine, the sheriff’s spokesman said. The marijuana had an estimated street value of $28,800, while the cocaine was worth about $1,400 and the meth about $1,600, Munoz said.

Franco was being held at the Riverside County jail in Indio in lieu of $300,000 bail, while Parada was being held at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on $50,000 bail.