Agents of the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Agency (ATF) requested aid from the Manteca Police Department’s SWAT team Thursday to assist in carrying out the serving of two federal search warrants at two Ripon homes at about 11 a.m.

Officers making up the team from Manteca and Ripon were directed by the ATF agents as they surrounded two homes in residential neighborhoods where two men were taken into custody on unspecified drug charges.  Ripon Police said they could not comment on the arrests that made use of their department’s military style armored SWAT vehicle in the action that safeguarded SWAT officers.

Helen Dunkel, ATF public information officer, confirmed the arrests by telephone Thursday afternoon.  One was near the corner of Fourth Street and Jack Tone Road while the other was on North Acacia on the far side of the Highway 99 freeway, according to Ripon citizens familiar with the areas.

The ATF agents were on the scene in both arrests for about two hours gathering evidence.  Dunkel said the arrest warrants were both sealed by a federal policy and the names of the two individuals could not be released until they went before a federal magistrate in Sacramento sometime today.

It is not uncommon for ATF and FBI agents to go into a community where they make arrests and cite policy for not releasing information as to the persons arrested or what they have been charged with as noted on a federal warrant.