The smooth, brightly painted hull was scrubbed clean, with nothing to tip off the conservation officers checking the craft for clumps of invasive mussels that anything was amiss. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.This piece was originally published in Canada’s National Observer and appears here as part of our Climate Desk collaboration.Īt first glance, the boat stopped at a highway checkpoint near Golden, British Columbia, was unremarkable. #FREE STOCK PHOTO POLICE DOG FREE FULL#This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. The charges were submitted to the Iron County Attorney’s Office for review, and the case is also being screened for federal prosecution. The request was granted and the suspect remains in custody without bail. The trooper also said Vargas also has ties to the Mexican Cartel and posed a substantial risk of fleeing the jurisdiction of the court. Moreover, the suspect said he had trafficked narcotics before and estimated he had made 5-10 previous trips with drugs in the vehicle. The trooper also requested that Vargas be held without bail based on a number of factors, including that Vargas was reportedly transporting a large amount of narcotics through Utah, a state to which he has no ties, the trooper said. If broken down into grams for street-level sales, the value of the 88-kilos load jumps to more than $4.4 million.įollowing the arrest Tuesday, Vargas was booked into the Iron County Jail and faces three second-degree felony counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, as well as two misdemeanors related to the vape pen. The more than 5 kilos of fentanyl pills recovered from the car were valued at more than $1.7 million, while the wholesale value of the methamphetamine came to more than $437,000. In all, troopers recovered nearly 192 pounds of suspected narcotics during the traffic stop, or roughly 88.5 kilos bundled in multiple packages and containers.Īccording to a 2019 report released by the Drug Enforcement Administration, if broken down into street-level sales, 3 kilos of cocaine was valued at more than $420,000. The containers of suspected methamphetamine also tested positive for the drug and had a combined weight of 175 pounds. The more than 12 pounds of pills tested positive for fentanyl, while several of the packages tested positive for cocaine and weighed more than 7.5 pounds. Vargas was placed under arrest and transported to the UHP field office in Cedar City, where the packages were weighed and tested. George NewsĪs the search continued in the trunk of the car, officers found two suitcases that contained several more packages of the same crystallized substance found in the duffle bag, along with five packages of blue pills imprinted with “M-30,” leading the trooper to suspect they contained fentanyl. Stock photo of cocaine | Photo courtesy of the Drug Enforcement Agency, St. The suspect explained he purchased the vape pen in California and said he did not have a medical marijuana card when questioned further by police.įollowing the dog’s alert, officers found a duffle bag that contained several plastic Tupperware containers with suspected methamphetamine inside. The suspect said it was likely due to the THC vape pen he had inside the car. #FREE STOCK PHOTO POLICE DOG FREE DRIVER#When the animal indicated to the possible presence of narcotics, the driver was asked why the dog would alert on the vehicle. The driver, Jonathan Manuel Vargas, 21, told law enforcement the vehicle belonged to his girlfriend back in Las Vegas, Nevada, and when the officer became suspicious of possible further criminal activity, a K-9 was deployed to conduct a free-air sniff around the outside of the vehicle. The officer approached and measured the window tint at 17%, which was below the 35% as allowed under Utah law. The trooper conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle, which pulled off the interstate near mile marker 65. #FREE STOCK PHOTO POLICE DOG FREE WINDOWS#Tuesday in Iron County.Īs the car passed, the trooper noticed both windows were “significantly tinted” with visibility well below the legal limit allowed in “any other state,” according to documents filed in support of the arrest. George NewsĪ trooper who was parked in the median of Interstate 15 near mile marker 63 observed a black passenger car heading north shortly after 8 a.m. Photo of fentanyl pills for illustrative purposes only | Photo courtesy of the Utah Poison Control, St. GEORGE - A window tint violation led to the arrest of a 21-year-old driver after Utah Highway Patrol troopers recovered a total of over 190 pounds of suspected methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine.
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