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CEDAR CITY — A 19-year-old California man allegedly involved in trafficking approximately $1 million worth of narcotics was arrested in Cedar City late Tuesday night following a traffic stop on Interstate 15.
Bryan Lopez Hernandez, who had been driving a gray Honda Civic with California license plates, was booked into Iron County Jail early Wednesday morning.
According to the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper pulled the car over at approximately 11 p.m. Tuesday after the trooper reportedly observed that its side window tint appeared to be darker than the legally permitted level in Utah.
The trooper reported that as he drove to catch up to the northbound vehicle, its driver changed lanes and began to follow a slow-moving semitractor-trailer at a distance of less than one second.
The trooper then turned on his emergency lights and pulled the car over near mile marker 66, according to the affidavit.
"During the initial encounter with the driver, I observed a marijuana stem in plain sight," the trooper wrote in the affidavit, adding that he then asked the driver to accompany him back to his patrol vehicle while he issued a citation. The driver reportedly told the trooper he didn't have a medical marijuana card.
Read the full article at St. George News.
