CHP arrests man during stop on I-5 on suspicion of meth crimes

 Posted on February 08, 2012 in Criminal Defense

The California Highway Patrol says that officers discovered more than eight pounds of methamphetamine in a car that had been pulled over for a routine traffic stop last week. A news report in the Red Bluff Daily News does not indicate what police claim was the original basis for the traffic stop. The driver of the vehicle was arrested on suspicion of drug crimes after the encounter.

CHP officers say that the stop occurred around 9:00 last Wednesday along Interstate 5. A 38-year-old Washington man driving a Chevrolet Trailblazer did something that officers apparently characterize as criminal activity during the traffic stop. The Daily News report does not specify what that activity allegedly involved.

Authorities called in a drug sniffing dog to check out the vehicle, according to the CHP. Law enforcement claims that the dog behaved as if a controlled substance was inside the vehicle. Officers claim that they seized 8.1 pounds of methamphetamine during a search of the Trailblazer, according to a Tehama Interagency Drug Enforcement Task Force report. Agents from the task force apparently were called in to assist the CHP in the investigation.

In addition to the methamphetamine, authorities say they seized $1,195 in cash from the vehicle. That cash and the Trailblazer were seized pending forfeiture proceedings in relation to the allegations.

The driver was arrested after the incident on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine for sale and transportation of meth after the traffic stop. He was booked into the Tehama County Jail on $250,000 bail after the arrest.

Source: Red Bluff Daily News, "Cops seize $375K of meth in Tehama County bust," Julie Zeeb, Feb. 3, 2012