Feds seize six pounds of meth in Oakland

An East Bay man is facing methamphetamine charges in federal court in Oakland after agents allegedly seized more than six pounds from his car and a residence this week.

Carlos Martinez-Paredes was arrested in a Home Depot parking lot in Oakland Tuesday afternoon during a sting operation in which he allegedly sought to sell five pounds of methamphetamine to a confidential informant.

After agents watched the informant briefly enter and then leave Martinez-Paredes’s white Lexus sedan, they arrested him, searched the car and found five pounds of methamphetamine in five Tupperware containers, according to an affidavit filed by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Jack Ni.

A subsequent search of an Oakland residence Martinez-Paredes left earlier that afternoon turned up an additional pound, Ni wrote.

The affidavit was filed as part of a federal criminal complaint lodged against Martinez-Paredes Wednesday, charging him with one count of possessing more than 500 grams (1.1 pound) of methamphetamine with intent to distribute it.

The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a possible maximum of life in prison if Martinez-Paredes is convicted.

Martinez-Paredes appeared briefly before U.S. Magistrate Kandis Westmore in Oakland Thursday and was ordered to return Friday morning for identification of a defense lawyer and a reading of the charges. He is being held in custody.

Ni said in the affidavit the DEA had been investigating Martinez-Paredes since July and had used the confidential informant to make controlled buys from him before Tuesday’s sting operation.