A Berkeley man is facing serious drug sales charges after being arrested on Oregon Street by the San Francisco Police Department earlier this month, according to police and court papers.
San Francisco police arrested Luis Cruz, 28, on a warrant related to the alleged sales of narcotics, including fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine, in the Tenderloin District, according to court papers.
Police say Cruz and another man regularly drove together from Berkeley into San Francisco and were “observed selling narcotics in the same area.”
Police say they seized substantial amounts of suspected narcotics and more than $18,000 during a search of Cruz’s Oregon Street home on Aug. 17, when Cruz and the other man were arrested.
According to SFPD, police seized more than 3 pounds of suspected fentanyl that day along with nearly a half-pound of suspected methamphetamine. Police also confiscated quantities of suspected cocaine, heroin and oxycodone pills, according to court papers.
A Berkeleyside reader who saw the search underway at about 6 p.m. Aug. 17 described it as a “major police action in the apartment building” on the corner of Oregon and California streets: “It looked like an undercover sting operation. We saw police (not BPD) with out-of-state license plates arrest some guy after he came out of the apartment building. Then, we saw the police go in and demand entrance into one of the apartments. We don’t know if it was a drug bust but that’s what we guess that it was.”
According to Alameda County Superior Court records, Cruz — who is also known as Luis Arias — has now been charged with eight felony counts related to the alleged “large quantity” sales of fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine.
On Aug. 19, he entered not-guilty pleas before Judge Colin Bowen.
Cruz had just been placed on probation in Alameda County in April, according to court records reviewed by Berkeleyside, in connection with drug sales charges filed in June of last year.
In the 2021 case, the Alameda County Narcotics Task Force had arrested Cruz at his East Oakland home and found him with heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine for sale, according to court papers.
The task force also seized a Ruger American .308 rifle and more than $14,000 in the Oakland house, police wrote last year.
In the 2021 case, Cruz was charged with several counts of drug sales but ultimately entered a no-contest plea to having acted as an accessory after the fact, according to court records. He was placed on probation through April 2024.
Cruz had also been placed on probation in 2015 for a felony case related to drug dealing in San Francisco, according to charging papers.
The man who was arrested with Cruz on Aug. 17 does not appear to have been charged in Alameda County, and San Francisco criminal charging information is not available online. As a result, Berkeleyside is not publishing his name.
Cruz remains in custody at Santa Rita Jail as of Wednesday with a bail of $250,000.
He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland.
The San Francisco Police Department said the case remains “an open and active investigation.”
Authorities asked anyone with relevant information to call the SFPD Tip Line at 415-575-4444, or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with “SFPD.” Tipsters may remain anonymous.