Suspect in OSP meth stop will face federal charges

A Medford man caught with a pound of meth during a traffic stop in April has been indicted on federal drug charges.

A federal grand jury Thursday indicted Miguel Navarro-Martinez on a charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Medford. Navarro-Martinez, 44, already faces state charges of possession, delivery and manufacture of methamphetamine and identity theft in Jackson County Circuit Court stemming from his April 3 arrest.

Navarro-Martinez was arrested after a state trooper pulled over the red Cadillac he was allegedly driving 20 miles over the speed limit on Interstate 5 near milepost 13 outside Ashland. According to a probable cause affidavit, Navarro-Martinez originally gave the trooper another man's drivers license and produced an insurance card with the name and address of a woman in Klamath Falls.

It turned out that the real owner of the driver's license had a warrant out of Florida on a cocaine possession charge, and Navarro-Martinez said he didn't know the last name of the woman who owned the car, the affidavit said. After noting a strong smell of soap in the vehicle, the trooper suspected Navarro-Martinez was trying to hide drugs in the car. A search of the car turned up a pound of meth in a box hidden under the driver's seat, the affidavit said.

Under questioning by troopers and an agent from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Navarro-Martinez allegedly confessed that he was being paid $700 to transport the drugs to Tacoma, Wash. Court records show he has a previous federal conviction for illegal re-entry after deportation in 1995.

Navarro-Martinez is being held in the Jackson County Jail on a federal hold. He's scheduled for a pretrial conference on the state charges May 11, court records show.