CEDAR CITY, Utah, Mar. 13, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Deputies say the arrest of a drunk driver led to the discovery of an estimated $5 million worth of narcotics in Iron County.
Seized were 122.5 pounds of methamphetamine and 50.67 pounds of fentanyl measured in 231,540 pills, police said, with a combined estimated street value of approximately $5 million.
An Iron County Sheriff’s Deputy approached Julio Partida-Pantoja’s Cadillac shortly after 3 a.m. after observing him sit through two traffic light cycles at an intersection, according to Pantoja’s charging documents filed in 5th District Court.
Knocking on the driver’s window after pulling up behind him without lights and siren, the officer said he found Pantoja, 50, with bloodshot eyes, slurring his words, and upon exiting the car, unable to stand without holding on to something, swaying and stumbling.
He subsequently failed field tests so badly, according to a probable cause affidavit, “the one leg stand (test) was not performed due to safety concerns.”
A preliminary field test for blood alcohol content found him at .26, more than five times Utah’s legal limit of .05 percent, according to the affidavit. As officers began searching his Cadillac, Pantoja nonetheless would not sit still for handcuffing, pulling away several times and ignoring voice commands.
He is held without bail in the Iron County Jail.
The March 9 arresting documents listed him as a homeless man for the last eight months, but at his arraignment Tuesday he provided a Santa Maria, California residence with a street address, court records show.
He is charged with two counts of second-degree felony possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and misdemeanor counts of driving under the influence, possession of paraphernalia, driving with an open alcohol container and resisting arrest.
