Police: 62K fentanyl pills found in trunk during St. George traffic stop

Photo: Washington County Sheriff's Office

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

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