Two I-5 traffic stops net 29 pounds of meth

Oregon State Police troopers last week intercepted nearly a quarter-million dollars worth of crystal methamphetamine on its way from Southern California to Washington in two separate vehicle stops on Interstate 5 in Jackson County, authorities said.

The biggest haul came on April 1 when a traffic stop of a northbound vehicle near milepost 35 netted 28 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and the arrest of that vehicle's driver, with a similar stop April 3 near milepost 13 gaining another pound of the illegal drugs, OSP reported.

"It was officers looking past the initial traffic stop and developing some reasonable suspicions that led to consent searches," OSP Sgt. Jim Johnson said.

In the April 1 stop, driver Raymundo Cota Sauceda, 40, of Washington, was pulled over for an unspecified traffic infraction and told police he was en route from Southern California to Seattle, police said. After further investigation a consent search was made and a narcotic canine came to the scene to assist, police said.

The packaged methamphetamine was found in a cardboard box in the vehicle's trunk, and Sauceda was arrested on charges of possession and manufacturing of methamphetamine, police said.

The packaged methamphetamine was found in a cardboard box in the vehicle's trunk, and Sauceda was arrested on charges of possession and manufacturing of methamphetamine, police said.

In the April 3 stop, Martinez Miguel Navarro, 44, was stopped for an unspecified traffic infraction. With his consent, officers searched his vehicle and found about a pound of meth under the front seat, OSP reported.

Methamphetamine has a running street value in Southern Oregon of about $7,000 to $8,000 a pound, but it does fluctuate, Johnson said.

"It's cheaper when you get down to the border and more expensive as you go north," Johnson said.

Navarro was being held Monday in the Jackson County Jail on a fugitive warrant out of Washington and on a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold, jail records state. No jail records were found on Sauceda on Monday.

The investigation was conducted by troopers from the Oregon State Police Highway Interdiction team, Oregon State Police Drug Enforcement Section and agents from Homeland Security. The investigation is ongoing.

"We're hoping that there's possibly more arrests," Johnson said.