ST. GEORGE — The Washington County Drug Task Force arrested two California residents Thursday after stopping the car they were driving northbound on Interstate 15 at mile marker 7 for speeding. The arrest was made after a police K-9 indicated there was a presence of drugs in the car.

Arrested were Ashley Monique Haro, 22, and Eduardo Mena, 26, both from Hawthorne, Calif. Haro was charged with second-degree felony drug possession with intent to distribute and class-C misdemeanor open container of alcohol in a vehicle. Mena was charged with second-degree felony drug possession with intent to distribute.

According to St. George Police Capt. Kyle Whitehead, after stopping the car, task force detectives could see an open bottle of alcohol in the car and could smell a strong odor of alcohol on Haro’s breath. Haro, who was driving the car, admitted to police she had been drinking in the car.

After receiving consent from Haro to conduct a search using a K-9 around the car, the police dog detected a presence of drugs inside of the car. Police then conducted a search of the inside of the car and found a distributable amount of suspected methamphetamine in the trunk. Tests of the substance at the scene were positive for methamphetamine, Whitehead said.

Haro and Mena were booked into Washington County’s Purgatory Correctional Facility. At the initial appearance on Friday in Washington County’s Fifth District Court, bail was set for Mena at $15,000 and for Haro at $10,000.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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