SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 20, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Officers with the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Liberty Patrol Division safely arrested two suspects Friday morning and seized a sizable quantity of methamphetamine.
It was the second Liberty Patrol Division meth bust shared online by the department in three days.
Investigation began at 3:05 a.m. Friday when officers stopped an SUV for not having a license plate near 1500 S. West Temple St.
The driver, later identified as 52-year-old James Castro, was found lacking a valid driver’s license or insurance for the SUV, police said, and officers found the passenger, 45-year-old Caroline Campbell, was not wearing a seatbelt. Officers impounded the car.
During an inventory of the SUV, officers found over 200 grams (nearly half of a pound) of meth along with scales and packaging material, according to the press release.
An estimate on the street value of the meth was not included. But various web sites, including the DEA, estimate a pound of meth can have a street value of up to $5,000, depending on purity and demand.
Officers booked Castro into jail on suspicion of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, operating a vehicle without insurance and driving on a denied license. Campbell was booked on one count of possession of a controlled substance.
Wednesday the Liberty Patrol Division Homeless Resource Center (HRC) squad safely arrested a 55-year-old man and seized another sizable quantity of methamphetamine, plus cash, a gun, and two knives.
This investigation started at 5:01 p.m. when HRC officers stopped a car for an expired temporary registration near 1300 South 300 West. Police said the driver, Juan Rocha, was found to be driving on a denied driver’s license. Officers impounded the car.
During an inventory of the car, officers found a handgun, 26 fentanyl pills, 130 grams of powdered methamphetamine, 235 grams of solid methamphetamine, four grams of marijuana, two knives, drug paraphernalia, and $104 in cash, according to a press release.
Officers booked Rocha into the Salt Lake County Metro Jail on suspicion of two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, and single counts of being a restricted person in possession of a firearm. possession of a controlled substance/marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving on a denied license, and the expired registration violation.
Chief Mike Brown lauded the officers’ work as preventing hundreds, if not thousands, of individual doses of methamphetamine from reaching the streets.
