CEDAR CITY, Utah, Jan. 30, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — Utah Highway Patrol officials seized a total of 2,149 THC vape cartridges and nearly four pounds of a cannabis concentrate during a traffic stop near Cedar City just before midnight Wednesday.
A news release from the Utah Highway Patrol said the stop occurred on Interstate 15 northbound at mile marker 62.
“A trooper observed the driver of a Chrysler 200 speeding and fail to signal a lane change. He initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle and became aware of possible criminal behavior from the two vehicle occupants,” the news release said.
“An odor of cannabis was present in the vehicle, and it was determined that neither occupant could prove to be in lawful possession of cannabis under the Utah Medical Cannabis Act.”
When the trooper asked for consent to search the vehicle, the driver granted him consent to search. A search of the vehicle revealed the THC vape cartridges and the THC Shatter, which is a cannabis concentrate.
Both occupants were arrested for smuggling, distributing and possessing unlawful cannabis.
“State Bureau of Investigation Agents were brought in to question the offenders and try to determine the origin and the source of the unlawful THC products,” the news release said. “In 2019, agents and troopers seized and investigated over 40,000 THC vape devices, many of those had a distribution destination right here in Utah.”
In November and December of 2019, SBI Agents uncovered THC vape device distribution efforts targeting Utah’s youth through social media apps, the news release said. Those cases also turned up crimes involving unlawful firearms possession and sales. The details of those investigations cannot be released at this time as the cases are still being worked by SBI Agents.
“The Utah Department of Public Safety, working with allied agencies and communities, are committed to stopping the illicit supply of narcotics including the unlawful sale of THC vape devices that are being distributed to our youth and communities,” the news release said.
