NEWS: Ventura County police raid alleged marijuana-delivery service

Fabian and Amanda Citraro touted their home-run business as "Ventura County's #1 Medical Marijuana Service!" in newspaper and Internet ads.

But "Mary Jane's Bud," operated out of four locations in Thousand Oaks, hasn't taken any orders since the couple's arrest on charges that they were running an illegal medical marijuana collective.

Fabian Citraro, 32, and his wife, Amanda Citraro, 30, also face a charge of child endangerment after detectives found marijuana edibles in the refrigerator of their tidy two-story home in a development called Teardrop Estates, Ventura County Sheriff's officials announced Tuesday.

Narcotics investigators arrested the couple June 6 after a monthlong investigation into the operation, Sheriff's Sgt. Robert Thomas said in a statement. They were growing marijuana in two warehouses located in a business complex in the 3400 block of Old Conejo Road, Thomas said.

A third location a block away was used as a central dispatch center where they filled orders and sent drivers to deliver marijuana to customer's doorsteps, police said. When authorities searched the couple's home, they found marijuana edibles in the refrigerator within reach of small children, Thomas said.

The couple was taken into custody at Ventura County Jail and are scheduled for a July 6 court hearing, authorities said.

Ventura County and its 10 cities have taken a hard stance on all marijuana sales, and there are no legally operating storefront shops. Medical marijuana users must travel to Santa Barbara and Los Angeles to buy the drug at shops, or order from delivery services.

-- Catherine Saillant

Source: Los Angeles Times