SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Two men are in custody Saturday after San Diego County Sheriff's deputies arrested them on suspicion of possession of an illegal firearm and narcotics in San Marcos.
Just before 6:30 p.m. Friday, deputies from the San Marcos Sheriff's Station noticed what they deemed a suspicious vehicle at 202 South Rancho Santa Fe Road. During a search of the vehicle, a loaded, privately manufactured weapon, also commonly known as a "ghost gun," was located along with 48 rounds of 9mm ammunition, said Sgt. Alex Brust.
Deputies also located a large variety of illegal controlled substances, which included cocaine, ecstasy, fentanyl pills, and psilocybin mushrooms and arrested the occupants of the vehicle, Justin Gioia, 25, Nathaniel Brown, 36, and a 17-year-old teenage girl for various drug sales and firearms charges, Brust said.
Ghost guns do not have a serial number or other identifiable markings and unlike weapons made by a licensed manufacturer lack a serial number, which makes it extremely challenging for law enforcement agencies to track these firearms to their owners or makers, hindering or delaying investigations and crime-solving efforts, authorities said.
Gioia and Brown were booked into the Vista Detention Facility, Brust said. The teen was later released to her parents.
