Jose Olegario Lopez, a 44-year-old Mexican national from the state of Sinaloa, was traveling with his son when a police officer tried to pull him over for a traffic violation.
Lopez refused to stop until a contingent of police cars surrounded him and left him unable to move. The police said he had cocaine residue on him and they brought in a drug sniffing dog, who found bundles of drugs individually wrapped. Lopez was arrested, but his son was released to his mother, when they determined he was not part of the drug smuggling operation.
ICE placed a detainer on him and they will take custody when the state is done with him.
Officers who initially searched Lopez found he had traces of cocaine on his body, authorities said.
When officers and a K9 conducted an in-depth search of Lopez’s vehicle, they discovered multiple individually wrapped packages. Detectives say they recovered 2.35 pounds of cocaine, worth $106,000, and 16.7 pounds of methamphetamine, with an estimated street value of more than $750,000.
Authorities charged Lopez with two first-degree felony counts of possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute, one count of failing to respond to obey an officer, and one class A misdemeanor charge of drug paraphernalia possession, according to a press release from the Utah County Sheriff’s Office.