By Alana Minkler
The Press Democrat
SONOMA, Calif. — A Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office K-9 led his deputy to 23 pounds of meth during a Wednesday traffic stop, resulting in one arrest, authorities said.
The suspect, Enrique Sanchez-Arias, 33, of Vacaville, was booked into the Sonoma County jail on suspicion of felony possession and transportation of a controlled substance, according to the Sheriff’s Office news release.
Around 6:15 a.m., a sheriff’s deputy conducted a traffic stop on an SUV near Stage Gulch Road and Watmaugh Road in Temelec, an unincorporated area west of Sonoma.
The SUV had several lights out and an expired registration, said Deputy Robert Dillion, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office.
The deputy’s K-9 smelled around the vehicle and alerted to the presence of substances, Dillion said. The deputy recovered about 23 pounds of meth from inside the SUV.
Based on the large quantity of drugs, an investigation was launched by the property/narcotics unit and is ongoing, Dillion said.
Detectives later conducted a search at Sanchez-Arias’ Vacaville residence with assistance from the Vacaville Police Department. There they found 2.2 pounds of fentanyl, 0.5 pounds of meth and 1,500 fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills, as well as three loaded firearms — one of which was identified as stolen — and ammunition.
The average street price was of meth was between $20-$40 for a gram in 2019, according to the Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which is operated under the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy.
That means 23 pounds of meth may be worth more than $200,000.
Sanchez-Arias’ bail was set at $250,000 after detectives obtained a bail enhancement, Dillion said.
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