Morning raid on Ash reveals cocaine stash, cash, firearm

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Frio County deputies seized dozens of bags of cocaine, cash and a gun while searching a habitual offender’s home early Tuesday, November 19.
Sheriff Peter Salinas said the department had received a high volume of calls related to stop-and-go traffic at the home on Ash Street, which he described as indicative of narcotics sales. The information, coupled with 64-year-old suspect Jesse Leal’s history, the sheriff said, prompted an investigation.

Deputies entered the home shortly after 7 a.m. and found Leal and 43-year-old Barbara Laguna with two other individuals. Officers found bags of cocaine in the living room and bedroom.
According to a report on the case, Laguna was attempting to conceal a pill bottle filled with bags of cocaine inside her bra.

Deputies say the search warrant uncovered 46 bags of cocaine weighing 29 grams, a large amount of US currency and a firearm.
Leal and Laguna were jailed on felony charges for manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance.

Packages of cocaine that investigators believe have been readied for individual sale, US currency and a firearm were recovered as evidence by sheriff’s deputies Tuesday, November 18, in the raid of a home occupied by a habitual drug offender in Pearsall.

Leal had been found in possession of nearly four pounds of marijuana in March this year, as well as 30 ounces of cocaine, five ounces of hallucinogenic mushrooms, 26 packages of THC-infused gummies, 42 THC vape pens, 17 sildenafil tablets (generic Viagra) and $12,000 in US currency.
Pearsall police had been responding to a domestic dispute in March when Leal’s former girlfriend, Amanda Luna, 37, allegedly told officers there were drugs in the home.
“We would like to thank the Pearsall Police Department for their assistance in this case,” Salinas said. “We will remain committed to removing these illegal narcotics from the streets of our county.”