Officers from the San Mateo County Narcotics Task Force, with the assistance of Atherton police, arrested two men in connection with the discovery of 20 bags of cocaine, 77 Xanax pills and jars of marijuana in a dorm room at Menlo College on Nov. 10.
Dominic Ezekiel Jackson and Joel Matthew Palabrica, both 21 years old, were arraigned on Nov. 12 and pleaded not guilty to charges of possession of a controlled substance for sale, possession of marijuana for sale, and conspiracy to commit a crime, according to Lt. Joe Wade of the Atherton Police Department.
The men were released on their own recognizance. Their next court date is Jan. 14 for a preliminary hearing.
Around noon on Monday, Nov. 10, a campus security officer called authorities after detecting the odor of burning marijuana outside the dorm room that Mr. Jackson and Mr. Palabrica share, prosecutors said.
School policy allows an officer to enter a dorm room under such circumstances, according to prosecutors. The officer entered and saw Mr. Palabrica smoking marijuana and found marijuana and drugs inside “a false book and a false can” on Mr. Jackson’s desk, prosecutors said.
In addition to the drugs, officers said they found $925 in cash. After interviews and an investigation, officers concluded that Mr. Jackson sells marijuana and cocaine and that Mr. Palabrica was in possession of marijuana for sale, prosecutors said.
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