WASHINGTON CITY, Utah, Dec. 17, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A man was arrested in southern Utah after a large amount of pure fentanyl was allegedly found in a vehicle.
A probable cause statement from the 5th District Court of Washington County said Anthony John Ramirez, 59, is facing charges of:
- Possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, a second-degree felony
- Use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor
On Dec. 12 at approximately 3:40 p.m., the arresting officer from Washington City Police Department conducted free air sniff of the exterior of a vehicle in the parking lot of Walmart at 625 W. Telegraph St., the statement said. K-9 Zook displayed several “alert behaviors to narcotics odor being present inside of the vehicle,” the arresting officer wrote. “After observing Zook to display several alerts to narcotics odor being present inside of the vehicle, I then began to write a search warrant for the vehicle.”
The suspect and his fiancee emerged from the Walmart and began to approach the vehicle.
The officer told the pair he was writing a search warrant for the vehicle and they stated they wanted to leave, the statement said. The arresting officer told them they were detained until the warrant process was completed. Once the warrant was
submitted, Ramirez told the officer all of the suspected drug paraphernalia inside of the vehicle belonged to him, and his fiancee was innocent. He also said she had his narcotics inside of her backpack, and he had placed them there when he saw the police.
After being read her Miranda rights, the suspect’s fiancee confirmed that Ramirez had placed narcotics inside of her backpack. The officer then removed two large plastic bags from the backpack.
Ramirez was then read his Miranda rights and told the officer that the bags contained “pure powder fentanyl,” the statement said. The suspect stated he also had more fentanyl paraphernalia inside the vehicle that belonged to him.
“Upon search incident to arrest I located a black leather envelope in the back left pocket of Anthony’s person,” the statement said. “I observed the envelope to have 8,966 dollars inside of it. The currency has denominations of mainly 100’s, 20’s, 5’s, and 1’s. The suspected fentanyl was later weighed and came to a total of 146 grams. Through training and experience I am aware that 146 grams of pure fentanyl is not commonly a user amount. I also asked Anthony how much currency was on his person and he stated 4,500
dollars.”
Ramirez told the officer he had purchased a quarter pound, or 114 grams of fentanyl in Las Vegas and that he had used some.
“Anthony was not aware he was off on the total weight for the suspected fentanyl as well as the currency,” the statement said. “This is commonly seen with narcotics dealers that are unsure how much they have sold.”
Ramirez was transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility, where he is being held without bail.
He was on probation or parole at the time of the incident.
