Suspected cocaine dealer in Novato arrested by drug unit

A man suspected of selling cocaine at a Novato shopping center was arrested after a surveillance operation by the county drug squad, a sheriff's investigator said. Miguel Moreno Mejia, 28, of Petaluma was booked into Marin County Jail on suspicion of drug possession for sale and related counts. He was also booked on a Sonoma County arrest warrant alleging he violated his probation in a prior statutory rape case. Mejia's alleged drug customer, Eliezer Xiu-Tziu, 30, of San Rafael, was also arrested in the bust. The operation occurred Thursday at the Hamilton Marketplace shopping center, where investigators developed information that Mejia was selling drugs in the parking lot, said sheriff's Sgt. Pierre Ahuncain of the Marin County Major Crimes Task Force. The task force placed Mejia under surveillance and arrested the two suspects after seeing a suspected drug deal. Detectives found $485 and four individually wrapped plastic bags of suspected cocaine in Mejia's possession. Xiu-Tziu had small amounts of suspected cocaine and methamphetamine. The task force then obtained a search warrant for Mejia's residence in Petaluma, where they found $4,000 in cash, nearly a quarter pound of suspected cocaine and a small amount of meth, Ahuncain said. Both Mejia and Xiu-Tziu remained in jail Friday. Court appearances are set for Monday.