British stone. George-In the early hours of Thursday morning, at a traffic station in Washington City, police officers and a K-9 team found more than 6 pounds of methamphetamine and a large number of suspected fentanyl pills at a traffic station in Washington County. Three suspects from Colorado are sitting in a Washington County jail.

Shortly after midnight, a police officer noticed that a car with a temporary registration plate departed from Colorado and stopped at Maverick on North Hoodoo Way. The temporary registration label appears to have been changed because the numbers and letters do not match.

When the car started driving north on Interstate 15, the officer stopped the car and was talking to the driver. The driver was later identified as 42-year-old Felipe Paniagua. The suspect said the car was indeed his , But he didn’t know that the registration had expired. He also said that he was not the person who falsified the registration. When the Washington County Sheriff’s K-9 team was deployed to the scene, the driver was sitting in the officer’s patrol car.

When asked, Paniagua said there were no drugs in the car.

When the first officer arrived, the other two passengers in the car, including the 45-year-old former passenger John Elias Alfredo Griego (John Elias Alfredo Griego) and the one sitting in the back seat Erica Yvette Martinez, 44, was asked to get out of the car.

K-9 was deployed to sniff outside the vehicle, and the dog indicated that anesthetics might be present.

While searching the car, the police found a large plastic food bag on the floor. Inside they found six separate plastic bags containing a white crystalline substance consistent with methamphetamine. The total weight of the package exceeds six pounds.

Officials in the grocery bag also found a second transparent plastic bag containing an estimated 1,000 pills of suspected fentanyl. The police officer pointed out that there was a bag of suspected methamphetamine in the back seat area where Martinez was lying down.

The officials also found a pistol wrapped in a blue towel and located on the center console. It was reported that this was a 0.45 caliber Springfield gun that was stolen in Colorado.

Detectives from the Washington County Anti-Drug Task Force were also called to respond to the trio of on-site interviews. During this period, both Paniagua and Martinez exercised the right to remain silent.

At the same time, officials learned that Greigo allegedly placed the gun on the center console and placed additional ammunition in a backpack also located in the car. The driver also told the police that Martinez was carrying a plastic shopping bag containing drugs, and the report said that when the three left Colorado. Officials also learned that Martinez is on probation in Colorado.

All three were arrested and sent to Purgatory Correctional Institution, each facing four second-degree felony charges, including theft, possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute controlled substances, and possession of a firearm.

In addition, Panigua also faces a third-degree felony charge of using documents or license plates that he knows are forged or tampered with.

The official also pointed out that the three people pose a major risk to any other individual or community, otherwise they might flee the state if released, and asked the court to detain the three without bail. The order was signed later that morning, and the three are still detained in Washington County.

Washington City Drugs Resurgence in 2021-Either Go Big or Go Home

This was one of several large-scale drug interceptions by the police in Washington City last year.

In fact, the largest recovery related to a traffic stop occurred on June 6, when more than $882,000 of heroin was seized from a car, of which 16 pounds. Less than two weeks later, 19 pounds of methamphetamine were seized at another traffic stop on North Hoodoo Way.

The largest drug seizure occurred in July, when 21 pounds of methamphetamine and 10,000 fentanyl pills were seized from a car at a traffic stop on Washington Park Avenue.

In a series of traffic interceptions since January, Washington City officials recovered more than 76 pounds of methamphetamine, nearly 23 pounds of heroin, and more than 11,000 fentanyl pills.

The total street value of the intercepted drugs is estimated to be more than 3.2 million U.S. dollars.

Ed. Note: A new law in Utah generally prohibits the posting of photos of an arrest appointment before a conviction is obtained. 

This report is based on court records, police or other respondent statements, and may not contain the full scope of the investigation results. The arrested or charged person is presumed to be innocent until found guilty in court or determined by the fact judge in other ways.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

Cody Blowers grew up in South San Francisco, California. Cody graduated from Colorado Technical University in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a minor in legal assistant studies. In the course of her academic research, she discovered that writing is her true passion, and she is committed to providing credible and comprehensive news reports. Cody joined St. George News in 2015. When she is not busy following the news, she usually sees her chasing her little granddaughter Kali.

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