Detectives detail Santa Rosa meth bust

Drug dealers in Santa Rosa were planning to use a stuffed bunny rabbit to ship a pound of methamphetamine to Maui before they were busted, detectives testified Tuesday.

Three Santa Rosa residents and two Hawaiians are charged with conspiracy, possession for sale and transportation in an alleged effort to mail the drugs, which were interrupted March 6.

Undercover police watching a house on Hewitt Street near North Dutton Avenue smashed in the front door and found methamphetamine with a street value of about $5,000 sewn into the stuffed animal, detectives testified.

The drugs were then placed in a box with a shipping label bound for Maui. The return address was a church on Benicia Drive in northeast Santa Rosa, Det. Patrick Albini testified.

In the house detectives found other pre-printed labels also addressed to Hawaii, suggesting other drug trafficking was planned or had already taken place.

At least one of the defendants, Hawaii resident Nicholas Coffman, 22, admitted he had come to Santa Rosa before for a drug transaction, Det. John Whitten testified. Coffman told police he was paid to be a driver by co-defendant Walter Setzco, 31, also of Hawaii, Whitten said.

Also charged in the alleged caper are Kevin Cruz, 25, Shawn Loughman, 43, and Jamie Virginia Crowe, 41, all of Santa Rosa.

Cruz is alleged to have delivered the pound of meth to the Hewitt Street house in a car with a hollowed-out dashboard. Crowe lived there and was married to Loughman, who is alleged to have assisted in the deal.

It was unclear how police were alerted. After breaking down the front door, officers called in the Sonoma County sheriff’s ?Henry-1 helicopter to help find two defendants who fled on foot, the detectives testified.

All but Setzco and Cruz have since been released on bail.

After listening to preliminary hearing testimony, Judge Gary Medvigy ruled there was sufficient evidence to try the defendants as charged. They return to court June 2.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.?On Twitter @ppayne.