September 6, 2023 - Ventura County Sheriff's Office officials report that during the month of July 2023, detectives with the Camarillo Special Enforcement Unit (SEU) began an investigation into Daniel Brewster for narcotics sales. Detectives received information that Brewster was selling fentanyl to residents of the City of Camarillo and other cities located within Ventura County.

On August 16, 2023, SEU, and Camarillo Directed Enforcement (DEU) detectives located Brewster and Travis Norton at a hotel room on the 300 block of West Channel Island Boulevard.

SEU Detectives located an ounce of fentanyl during the initial contact.  As the investigation unfolded, SEU detectives learned the subjects were renting a nearby hotel room.  

SEU Detectives obtained a signed search warrant for the search of the hotel room where they located another ounce of fentanyl and indicia of narcotics sales.

Preliminary testing of the narcotics confirmed the narcotics were indeed fentanyl.

Brewster and Norton were booked into the Ventura County Main Jail for possession of a controlled substance for sale.  Brewster and Norton are both being held on $100,000.00 bail awaiting trial. Prior to his arrest, Brewster was out on bail for separate firearms and narcotics sales charges.

Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as an analgesic (pain relief) and anesthetic. It is approximately one hundred times more potent than morphine and fifty times more potent than heroin. Unfortunately, it is highly addictive and extremely deadly when used in its illicit forms.  Chemicals involved in producing illicit fentanyl are being mass produced overseas and imported into the United States through organized crime syndicates and cartels.  Ventura County law enforcement is regularly seizing fentanyl in bulk and in pill form in the county. 

According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, fraudulent prescription Oxycodone pills typically contain .02 to 5.1 milligrams of fentanyl per tablet and a potentially lethal dose of Fentanyl is 2 milligrams.

The amount of fentanyl seized was over 28,000 times the lethal dose amount of 2 milligrams.

The fentanyl crisis has affected all corners of the United States to include public figures such as professional athletes, musicians, actors, and tens of thousands of regular citizens in all walks of life. Despite collaborative countermeasures, we have also seen a continuous increase in both fatal and non-fatal fentanyl overdoses in Ventura County. Our county has experienced an increase in fentanyl related overdose deaths from 87 in 2020, to 181 in 2022.

Nature of Incident: Arrests Made in Possession of Fentanyl for Sales Investigation

Report Number: 23-105446

Location: 300 Block of West Channel Island Boulevard

Date & Time: 8/16/2023 @ 11:15 AM

Unit(s) Responsible: Camarillo Special Enforcement Unit, Camarillo Directed Enforcement Unit.

Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime.  The caller may remain anonymous.  The call is not recorded.  Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

Source: Ventura County Sheriff's Office