The Associated Press
BOISE, Idaho — Police say the stopped a huge shipment of methamphetamine in its tracks before it made its way to the streets of Boise.
Officers with the Ada County Metro Narcotics say two men unwittingly told their plans for the drugs to an undercover officer.
Narcotics officers found nearly one and half pounds of the liquid meth – the largest amount ever found in the State of Idaho.
Officers say the men were going to take the liquid and make the powder form of methamphetamine. If that had happened -- they would have had nearly three pounds with a street value of nearly $50,000.
Juan Paniagua-Pacheco and Gregorio Camacho-Pangiagua sit in the Ada County Jail awaiting arraignment.
The Ada County Sheriff’s Office says as the men were making plans to bring the drugs into Boise, and got in touch with an undercover narcotics detective shared what they were going to do.
While the two were driving from Marietta, Georgia to Boise -- detectives learned even more about the men’s plan to set up a distribution area in the treasure valley.
“They arrived late Friday night early Saturday morning (and) immediately make a call to our undercover officer to make the meet,” Sgt. Kevin Wittmuss with the Ada Metro Narcotics Unit said. “We had them come to a house and park the car they had driven - up we call it a load car - they wanted a place where they could dismantle the car where they had hidden the narcotics in the car.”
The men had the liquid meth stashed in various parts of the car.
One place was the car’s radiator overflow container as well as the windshield washer fluid bottle.
Wittmuss says it’s unusual for drug traffickers to bring liquid meth to Idaho.
But he says supply is low in the area, and demand continues to be high.