CCSO Makes $24,700 Narcotics Arrest
CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M.
A single pill of Fentanyl can be enough to kill a person. On March 3 the Cibola County Sheriff’s Office confiscated 114 of these pills, along with 143 OxyContin and 35 Oxycodone pills, 129.5 grams of methamphetamine, and a loaded handgun.
A deadly dose of Fentanyl is two milligrams. According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, street-level fentanyl pills can contain anywhere from .02 to 5.1 milligrams of Fentanyl, just one of which can send its user into an overdose. Taking illegal narcotics off the street is a central mission of the Cibola County Sheriff’s Office, who began a routine traffic stop due to a non-working taillight.
After checking on the driver, Louis Daniel Garcia’s driver’s license, deputies discovered that he was allegedly driving on an “suspended revoked license” according to Sheriff Tony Mace. Driving with a license with determinates like a suspension or revocation is an arrestable offense in the State of New Mexico.
Garcia was arrested and his vehicle was towed. To ensure that a potential suspect’s belongings aren’t stolen while their vehicle is being held by a towing company, deputies take an inventory of the contents inside the vehicle.
While inventorying the items inside Garcia’s vehicle, deputies discovered illegal narcotics. They immediately stopped inventorying the vehicle and obtained a search warrant, through the course of the search deputies discovered 114 Fentanyl pills, 143 OxyContin and 35 Oxycodone pills, 129.5 grams of methamphetamine, and a loaded handgun. Some of the methamphetamine crystals were large and others were colored purple.
The approximate street value of the narcotics discovered is $24,700.
Garcia is being charged with Felony Possession of a Controlled Substance and Felony Trafficking of a controlled substance.
All people are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. A single counterfeit fentanyl pill can have twice the lethal amount of narcotics, if a person who is overdosing does not receive Naloxone – better known as Narcan, a spray that stops an overdose – they may die.