Jun Kim, 32, of San Jose, who was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance, alleged possession for sales of marijuana, possession for sales of cocaine, possession for sales of methamphetamine, maintaining a business for selling controlled substances, possession of paraphernalia and possession of firearms with drugs.
The owner of Simple Beverages and Cigars was arrested early Saturday morning for allegedly dealing drugs from his store, police said.
Jun Kim, 32, of San Jose, was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance, alleged possession for sales of marijuana, possession for sales of cocaine, possession for sales of methamphetamine, maintaining a business for selling controlled substances, possession of paraphernalia and possession of firearms with drugs.
Kim was stopped by Morgan Hill police just before 1 a.m. for a vehicle code violation. He was allegedly under the influence of a controlled substance. Officers requested his consent to search his store, according to Morgan Hill police Special Operations Sgt. Jerry Neumayer, and he agreed.
During the search, officers found a shotgun in the back room of the store. Near the cash register at the front counter of the store, officers found cash, more than 1,000 plastic baggies, the kind typically used for packaging drugs, 142 plastic pipes commonly used for smoking methamphetamine, 20 Vicodin pills, some marijuana, approximately 2.5 grams of cocaine, a soda-type can with a false bottom, a switchblade, a handgun, bullets, a taser and a stun baton.
"Our street crimes team had been receiving information about possible narcotics activity at the business, and as a result had been conducting surveillance of the business for the last two months," Neumayer said.
Jason Kim, brother of Jun Kim, was manning the store Thursday morning.
"I live in San Francisco, but family comes first, of course I had to come help out," he said, trying to help a customer with a price even though he is unfamiliar still with the merchandise. "We've seen him change, the last few months, staying out late, not sleeping, but when we ask him what is wrong, he yells, 'Nothing is wrong.' "
The store will stay open, he said, because it's what provides his parents, the rest of his family, with a living, though Jason Kim said he has his own business in San Francisco.
Jason Kim said though he and the family are not sure they can believe everything Jun Kim has to say about the situation, Jun Kim told them that a woman who worked in the store set up the drug dealing enterprise, and Jun Kim got involved, even started using methamphetamine.
He doesn't know the woman's full name, Jason Kim said, and he believes she has left the area.
"Jun was doing so well here for four or five years, taking care of his family, doing well with the store, but like six or seven months ago, things were going bad, business was getting slow, maybe that's when he started, or maybe the drugs were the problem, we don't know," he said. "None of my family has ever tried these drugs, it's not something we would do."
According to Jason, Jun is still in county jail. He said the original bail was set at $100,000, but though it has been $45,000, the family could not bail him out. Several of the charges against him are felony charges.
Calls to Kim's attorney, Alex Park, were not returned by presstime.
Marilyn Dubil Marilyn Dubil is a freelance writer for The Times.
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