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CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) -- Police confiscated seven pounds of methamphetamine with a street value of more than $300,000 following a traffic stop.
Jose F. Lopez, 26, and Maria Vega Domingues, 24, both of the Kansas City area, were arrested for investigation of drug offenses.
Police K-9 Officer Jason Thomas pulled the couple over Sunday morning on Interstate 15 for alleged erratic lane changes and following too closely.
Lopez was not the registered owner of the Ford Expedition he was driving.
"I was just talking to him and began finding inconsistencies in his story about where he'd been and how long he'd been there," Thomas said. "I asked him if I could take a look at his vehicle and he said, 'yes' and so I took my dog around the outside of it, and he alerted to the outside."
Thomas said that Gino, a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois, was allowed inside the vehicle and indicated there was something in the rear seat.
"There was a compartment back behind the cushion of the seat, and the hard back of the seat, and I was able to reach up in there and find the drugs," Thomas said.
"What was amazing to me is they had it shrink-wrapped and vacuum-sealed twice, and in another bag covered in liquid and powder soap. Dogs can smell right through that, and that's how he found it," Thomas said.
Lopez and Dominguez were booked into the Iron County Jail.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
