The man, from Sea-Tac, was arrested by California Highway Patrol after they found more than 150 pounds of cocaine and fentanyl-laced pills during a traffic stop on Interstate 5 in Fresno County.
27-year old Carlos Jordan Lopez, according to California Highway Patrol, was in possession of drugs with an estimated street value of around $7.3 million. The arrest happened back on Sept. 8th after a K-9 officer with the Central Valley California Highway Patrol made a traffic stop on Lopez’ vehicle. Officials, however, have not indicated as to why Lopez was pulled over.
During the traffic stop, officers became suspicious of a large truck tire that was inside the trunk of the vehicle. California Highway Patrol officers noted in their report that the tire was unusually heavy and had a strong smell of drugs coming from it. After officers removed the tire from the truck and cut it open, they found 107 pounds of fentanyl-laced tablets, as well as 45 pounds of cocaine.
According to a statement given to KTLA by California Highway Patrolman Mike Salas, “These drugs were definitely en route somewhere within our county here in Fresno or somewhere in the state. It could have been in contact with hundreds of people across the state, if not the country, if this traffic stop did not happen. Countless lives have been saved thanks to this one-stop.”
Lopez was booked into the Fresno County Jail and is facing charges charges of possession of cocaine and fentanyl for sale and for the transportation of cocaine and fentanyl across multiple counties.
Authorities say they are unable to tell whether the drugs came from here in Washington state, or were picked up on the way in an unknown location. However, it seems more than likely the drugs were brought from Washington via Canada (which is more and more common these days) considering Lopez is known to reside in Sea-Tac, and not in California.