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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Highway Patrol troopers in Iron County have stopped and arrested people accused of being involved in drug trafficking over the past two nights.
Tuesday night, a trooper pulled over a Dodge Grand Caravan traveling approximately 100 mph on I-15. Two men with New York driver’s licenses were in the vehicle, according to a police affidavit.
The trooper became suspicious of the men’s activities after talking to them and called for a police drug sniffing K-9 to be brought to the scene.
Five pounds of methamphetamine and 19 grams of heroin were found in the luggage, the affidavit states.
Christopher Alexander Chacon, 46, was arrested for investigation of two counts of drug possession with intent to distribute, drug possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and obstructing justice.
Ruben Cano, 35, was arrested for investigation of drug possession with intent to distribute, possession of drug paraphernalia and speeding.
Chacon has previously been convicted of drug distribution, according to the affidavit.
In a separate incident on Monday, a trooper pulled over a vehicle for a minor traffic violation and noticed beer caps in the back seat.
“I asked him if there was any open containers in the vehicle and he told me that there probably was. I asked him if there was any drugs in the vehicle and he told me that there was cocaine in the center console. I asked him when the last time he used cocaine was and he explained it was earlier that morning,” according to a police booking affidavit.
The driver admitted that he was being paid $2,000 to transport the money in his duffle bag from Ohio to Las Vegas.
–Police report
Troopers then conducted a search of the vehicle and found more than $52,000 in cash in a duffle bag in the trunk as well as a small bag of cocaine and a THC vape cartridge in the vehicle, the affidavit states.
“During the interviews the driver admitted that he was being paid $2,000 to transport the money in his duffle bag from Ohio to Las Vegas,” police wrote in the report.
Luis Alberto Nunez Arciniega, 29, was arrested for investigation of money laundering, cocaine possession, marijuana possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and other minor crimes.
