Suspected drug house operator appears in court

A Vancouver man appeared in Clark County Superior Court on Wednesday on suspicion of operating a drug house in Vancouver’s Landover-Sharmel neighborhood.

Francisco J. Mata-Coria, 28, was arrested about 12:45 p.m. Tuesday when detectives with the Clark-Vancouver Regional Drug Task Force served a warrant to search his residence at Madison Park Apartment Homes, 12901 N.E. 28th St.

He is scheduled to be arraigned July 9 on charges of heroin possession with intent to deliver and maintaining a drug dwelling. Judge Suzan Clark held Mata-Coria on $30,000 bail and appointed Vancouver attorney Diane Sweet to defend him.

Investigators found about 1 pound of heroin, packaging material and about $2,500 in cash inside Mata-Coria’s residence, according to a court affidavit.

Mata-Coria lived at the residence with Carlos Murillo and Alejandro, whose last name was not given in court records. Alejandro told investigators that he and Murillo were paid money to distribute heroin out on the street, according to the affidavit.

In court Tuesday, Mata-Coria asked through an interpreter how he could prove that the drugs don’t belong to him. Clark reminded him of his right to be silent and advised him to speak to his attorney.