IRON COUNTY, Utah, July 13, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A man has been arrested after $140,000 in heroin was allegedly found in his vehicle in Iron County.
A probable cause statement from the 5th District Court of Iron County said Luis Mario Aguirre, 18, from Mexico, is facing charges of:
- Possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, a second-degree felony
- Possession of a controlled substance, schedule I/II/analog, a class A misdemeanor
- Possession of a controlled substance, marijuana/spice, a class B misdemeanor
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
- Operating a vehicle without insurance, a class C misdemeanor
- Failure to secure license plates, an infraction
- No valid license, an infraction
The arresting officer was sitting in his patrol vehicle in the median at approximately mile marker 63 on Interstate 15 in Iron County on Saturday night, the statement said. The officer saw a vehicle pass traveling northbound.
“As the vehicle passed my location I observed that the front driver side was rolled down most of the way,” the statement said. “The part that was still up appeared to be darker than allowed by Utah state law. I believed he had rolled the window down in an attempt to conceal the illegal window tint.”
The officer pulled out of the median and caught up to the vehicle, then ran a records check on the license plate, which found that the registration had expired in February 2021 and there was no insurance on the vehicle.
“I pulled in behind the vehicle and turned on my emergency lights,” the arresting officer wrote. “The vehicle pulled to the right at approximately mile marker 66 northbound on I-15.”
The driver allegedly told the officer he had never possessed a valid license and thought the registration was good till the end of the year. The driver also said there was no insurance on the vehicle.
“During the conversation I started to be suspicious that the driver, Luis Aguirre, was involved in criminal activity,” the arresting officer wrote. “I called for a drug detection K-9.”
The K-9 performed a free-air sniff of the vehicle and indicated to the odor of narcotics in the vehicle.
“During a probable cause search of the vehicle we located approximately 1.5 pounds of
heroin, two THC vape pens, and a grinder,” the statement said.
After being read his Miranda rights, Aguirre allegedly admitted that he knew he was transporting the heroin to Denver.
“With the amount of heroin that was located if sold in the Cedar City area would be approximately $140,000 dollars worth of heroin,” the statement said.
Aguirre was transported to Iron County Jail, with his bail set at $20,000.
