During a routine traffic stop in Washington County, police discovered 10 pounds of meth in the trunk of a vehicle. The driver was a 70-year-old man who told police he did not know about the $250,000 worth of meth in the trunk.
The traffic stop occurred on Sunday, just south of the Black Ridge exit on I-15. The vehicle was stopped for a simple lane violation.
The driver, David Russell King of Tooele, was the sole occupant of the vehicle, which was a rental car registered in California. The suspect told officers he was heading back home from a weekend trip to Las Vegas, but officers did not see luggage in the car. The officer said King was very nervous and visibly shaking during the stop.
The officer asked if anything illegal was in the vehicle, to which King denied. He also refused to let the officer search the vehicle. The suspect was removed from the vehicle, and a K9 unit was sent to air-sniff around the vehicle.
“The police K9 provided probable cause to search the vehicle,” the officer said.
In the trunk, they discovered a black suitcase with five large plastic bags with a crystal-like substance that was confirmed to be meth. Each bag weighed about 2 pounds. A pipe with residue was also found during the search.
King told officers he didn’t know the suitcase was holding drugs and hadn’t opened the suitcase.
“David stated a male placed the suitcase in his vehicle and then instructed him to deliver it to northern Utah,” the report states.
The suspect claimed he owed the man money and the delivery would absolve him of $5,000 of debt.
Also found in the suitcase was a prescription bottle with King’s name on it “further proving he had knowledge of the drugs in his vehicle,” the police report stated.
King was arrested and booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility on Sunday on felony charges of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and a misdemeanor charge of possession of paraphernalia.
Author: Andrew Streeter
Photo: courtesy of Washington City Police Department
Editor: Hannah Clove
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