ST. GEORGE, Utah, Oct. 8, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A 19-year-old man from Mexico was arrested after police say 62,000 fentanyl pills were found in his vehicle during a traffic stop in St. George.
Rigoberto Beltran Garibay was pulled over just before midnight Wednesday for an alleged signal violation on Interstate 15 and a windshield that the arresting Washington County sheriff‘s deputy said was “tinted [past] the point of visibility into the vehicle,” according to a probable cause statement filed Thursday in 5th District Court.
While a deputy explained the reason for the traffic stop near Green Spring Drive and collected information from Garibay, a Washington City police K-9 conducted “an exterior sniff of the free air surrounding the vehicle” and gave a “positive” indication for narcotics, the statement continues.
During a search of the white Chevy Impala, deputies found:
- 62 packages containing an estimated 1,000 fentanyl pills each (totaling 15 pounds) in the trunk.
- A dollar bill containing a substance that later tested positive for cocaine in the glove box.
“Based upon the amount of the pills, it is clear this is far beyond what a person could consume as personal use and is consistent with smuggling/transporting for distribution/sales,” according to the probable cause statement.
Police also arrested Karen Yvonne Alvarez, a 39-year-old Colorado woman who was a front-seat passenger in the Impala.
Garibay and Alvarez both are being held without bail in the Purgatory Correctional Facility in Hurricane for investigation of:
- Possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, a second-degree felony
- Possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor
