Here’s a harsh but simple lesson for all wannabe criminals: if you’re going to break the law by transporting and / or distributing drugs in your car, make sure you never give cops a reason to pull you over.
In what is definitely a career-making moment, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper out in traffic noticed a car tailgating another and failing to signal a lane change, KSL reports. This happened on April 25 on I-15 near Cedar City, Utah, but details of the bust have been made public only now.
The trooper summoned the driver to pull over and immediately noticed that both him and his passenger were too nervous for a routine traffic stop. This led to a search of the vehicle with the K-9 drug unit and, in turn, this led to the discovery of a whopping 15 pounds of methamphetamine.
“The driver was very nervous and could hardly speak while I was talking to him,” the trooper wrote in the report. “A probable cause search revealed 15 one-pound packages of methamphetamine. Fourteen packages were found in a diaper box on the back seat and one package was found under the driver's seat. The street value of the drugs discovered in the car are $670,000. This case will likely go federal.”
The 2 men, identified as Eduardo Soltero-Estrada and Jose Luis Casillas-Cervantes, told the trooper they were on their way to Colorado after spending a week in California and a couple of days in Las Vegas with family. As for how that insane amount of drugs landed in their car, they came up with one of the oldest excuses in the book: I’ve never seen that before, officer!
“[They claimed] they went to a movie theater [while in California],” the search warrant affidavit obtained by the publication notes. “He stated that when they came out of the movie theater that the box containing the drugs had been left on the back seat of the vehicle.”
Both men have been charged with felony drug distribution. That initial minor traffic offense is now the least of their problems.
The trooper summoned the driver to pull over and immediately noticed that both him and his passenger were too nervous for a routine traffic stop. This led to a search of the vehicle with the K-9 drug unit and, in turn, this led to the discovery of a whopping 15 pounds of methamphetamine.
“The driver was very nervous and could hardly speak while I was talking to him,” the trooper wrote in the report. “A probable cause search revealed 15 one-pound packages of methamphetamine. Fourteen packages were found in a diaper box on the back seat and one package was found under the driver's seat. The street value of the drugs discovered in the car are $670,000. This case will likely go federal.”
The 2 men, identified as Eduardo Soltero-Estrada and Jose Luis Casillas-Cervantes, told the trooper they were on their way to Colorado after spending a week in California and a couple of days in Las Vegas with family. As for how that insane amount of drugs landed in their car, they came up with one of the oldest excuses in the book: I’ve never seen that before, officer!
“[They claimed] they went to a movie theater [while in California],” the search warrant affidavit obtained by the publication notes. “He stated that when they came out of the movie theater that the box containing the drugs had been left on the back seat of the vehicle.”
Both men have been charged with felony drug distribution. That initial minor traffic offense is now the least of their problems.