Two arrested after Santa Cruz County detectives find more than a pound of meth and a gun

Two Santa Cruz residents were arrested Tuesday afternoon after detectives found over a pound of meth and a gun.

At around 1 p.m., detectives with the Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Enforcement Team went to a motel in the 2900 block of Soquel Avenue and found 42-year-old Robert Truhitte and 43-year-old Karen Laubenthal.

The Sheriff’s Office said both Truhitte and Laubenthal were on probation, and Laubenthal was out on bail after an arrest for drug sales.

During a search of the motel room, detectives said they found 1.5 lbs of meth, heroin, psilocybin mushrooms, a loaded handgun, $14,000 in cash and evidence of drug packaging.

Truhitte and Laubenthal were arrested on drug and weapon charges and booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail.

The Sheriff’s Office said detectives have seized more than five pounds of drugs and two loaded handguns in the past two days. In that time they have also arrested four suspected drug dealers.