Mountain View police seize roughly 50 pounds of opium poppy pods

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Mountain View police have announced one of the largest seizures of opium poppy pods in California history.

Authorities arrested two people and seized roughly 50 pounds of opium poppy pods. 

According to Mountain View police, detectives received a tip in October that Jasvir Singh, 34, was processing and selling opium poppy pods out of his home on the 200 block of Monroe Avenue. Singh, along with his wife, 45-year-old Donna Santo, who was said to be importing large quantities of the poppy, known as papaver somniferum, from overseas.

Police say the pair would then store the shipments in lockers and subsequently grind the pods into a fine powder. That powder would then be sold so that it could be brewed into a highly potent tea.

Over the next couple of months, officers investigated the claims and on Tuesday, detectives from the Crime Suppression Unit, the Crimes Against Persons Unit and the Cyber Crime Unit served a search warrant at Singh’s home.

During the course of the search warrant, detectives found roughly 50 pounds of opium poppy pods inside the home, along with over $30,000 in cash. A second search warrant was also executed on the lockers that Singh had been using to store the shipments of the opium poppy pods.

In that search, detectives located nearly 4,000 pounds of opium poppy pods, a street value of $400,000.
Singh and Santo were subsequently arrested on charges of possession of controlled substances for sale, a felony, as well as for child endangerment. They are currently being held without bail at the Santa Clara County Jail.