Pot bust nets more than 30 pounds
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Deputy Nate Nelson and K9 Pogo stand along Interstate 90 near Fourth of July Pass by a vehicle that was carrying more than 30 pounds of marijuana through North Idaho. (Photo via Twitter)
COEUR d’ALENE — More than 30 pounds of marijuana was seized by deputies Tuesday and a Washington man was arrested during a morning traffic stop near Fourth of July Pass.
Juan Carlos Lopez, 34, of Grandview, Wash., is charged with trafficking more than 25 pounds of marijuana, a felony that carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years and a $15,000 fine.
At his first appearance in Coeur d’Alene’s First District Magistrate Court Wednesday, Lopez’s bond was set at $100,000 at the request of prosecutors who said Lopez had no known ties to the area.
Lopez was erratically passing vehicles in moderate to heavy traffic around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday as he drove a black, 2004 Chevrolet SUV east on Interstate 90, climbing toward Fourth of July Pass.
Deputy Nate Nelson, a Kootenai County K9 officer, stopped the car to advise the driver to use his turn signals properly — blinking the entire five seconds as required by law — before merging into the adjacent lane.
In his report Nelson wrote that Lopez was nervous, lethargic in his movements, his hands were shaking and his eyes appeared watery and bloodshot.
Lopez told the deputy he was coming from Sunnyside, Wash., a red-flag area known to law enforcement.
“Sunnyside being a well-known distribution hub to Great Falls, which is a known source city,” Nelson wrote in his report.
Lopez said he was headed to Great Falls, Mont., to visit a sister.
When Nelson had his dog, Pogo, make a run around the car, Pogo alerted on the rear, driver’s side door.
Another deputy backed up Nelson. The deputies found two large plastic totes in the back of the SUV, each containing 16, heat-sealed, one-pound packages of marijuana, totalling approximately 32 pounds.
Deputies confiscated $580 in Lopez’s wallet in the form of bills ranging in denominations from $10 to $100. Lopez had seven $20 bills in his pocket, according to a deputy’s report.
Lopez, who wore gray sweatpants, a black sweatshirt and green tank top, was booked into the Kootenai County Jail.
Senior Judge Robert Burton on Wednesday scheduled a Feb. 2 preliminary hearing status conference, and a Feb. 26 preliminary hearing in the case.