5 arrested in alleged Santa Rosa meth shipping scheme

Five people were in custody Saturday after Santa Rosa police busted what they said was an operation to ship methamphetamine to Hawaii.

Narcotics detectives had staked out a house at 408 Hewitt St. Friday when they saw Miguel Borquez, 24, drive up, meet with a resident at the house and conduct what police say was a drug deal. They arrested Borquez and approached the house, only to see people flee out the back and the garage.

Several suspects were caught as they tried to escape, while two others hopped fences and ran toward Dutton Avenue. Police set up a perimeter around the neighborhood and called in a helicopter from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department to help with a yard-by-yard search.

One of the suspects who fled eventually surrendered to detectives. A second was founding hiding under a vehicle parked on Polk Street.

Detectives then searched the house on Hewitt Street and found a pound of methamphetamine packaged for shipment to Hawaii. Other evidence discovered at the home indicated that people there were buying and packaging methamphetamine for sale, according to the police department. Detectives also seized $15,000 in cash.

In addition to Borquez, police arrested Nicholas Coffman, 22, Walter Setzco, 32, Shaun Laughman, 42, and Jami Crowe, 38. Borquez, Laughman and Crowe all live in Santa Rosa, while Coffman and Setzco reside in Hawaii. All were booked into Sonoma County Jail on charges of conspiracy to sell methamphetamine. Crowe also faces a charge of violating parole, while Setzco had an outstanding arrest warrant from Marin County.

David R. Baker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: dbaker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DavidBakerSF