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CEDAR CITY — A woman and a man were arrested in Cedar City on Thursday afternoon after Utah Highway Patrol troopers say they found 24,000 fentanyl-laced pills and other drugs inside their minivan.
Rachel Marie Aponas, 32, and Christopher Gerard Ruiz, 40, were subsequently booked into Iron County Jail, where they each face one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, a second-degree felony, along with misdemeanor charges related to possession of drugs and paraphernalia.
Additionally, Aponas, who was driving the van, faces a DUI charge and multiple traffic infractions, including failing to provide a child with a proper safety restraint device.
According to police affidavits filed in support of the arrests, a UHP trooper had been following the vehicle, which had Nevada license plates, on northbound I-15 when he observed its driver suddenly move onto an off-ramp without first making a proper signal.
"When the vehicle reached the bottom of the off-ramp, I watched as a small child in the back started to move all around the interior of the vehicle," the arresting trooper wrote in the affidavit. "She clearly did not have a seat belt fastened."
