After he stopped to help a stranded California woman who ran out of gas this month, a Wyoming state trooper found nearly 12 pounds of methamphetamine, 2,000 fentanyl pills and four pounds of marijuana in the her vehicle, arresting both the woman and her passenger.
The trooper stopped to help the woman on Interstate 80 east of Rock Springs the evening of April 8, according to a WHP statement released Tuesday. She was alone in her car at the time.
While the trooper spoke with the woman, he detected the odor of raw marijuana emitting from the car. His suspicion grew when the woman relayed “implausible information” about her travel plans, reads the statement.
A man soon emerged from a nearby ditch and approached the vehicle and the trooper. The man claimed he was not associated with the woman’s vehicle, the statement says, but “could not provide a reasonable explanation (for) why he was so far out in the middle of nowhere.”
The man is from Iowa, according to Wyoming Highway Patrol Sgt. Jeremy Beck.
Beck said he believed the pair were passing through Wyoming. But the long rural stretch in which they ran out of gas doesn’t have many refueling facilities, he said.
Becky On The Case
The trooper detained both parties and deployed a drug detection K-9 named Becky.
Becky gave a positive alert for the scent of drugs.
One or more trooper searched the vehicle and found 13 Ziploc baggies of what appeared to be methamphetamine, 11.5 pounds in total.
Police also found 3.7 pounds of suspected marijuana, two THC vape cartridges, one pack of THC edibles, 37 Adderall pills, 2,186 fentanyl M30 pills weighing about 185.3 grams, and two stolen pistols, the statement alleges.
As troopers continued to investigate they learned the man and woman were traveling together.
Authorities arrested both and charged them with various drug possession charges, along with a drug delivery charge and possession of stolen property.
