ST. GEORGE — A Las Vegas man is in jail following a routine traffic stop Tuesday that led authorities to find two trap doors inside a vehicle allegedly containing 50 pounds of methamphetamine.
Rudy Ramirez, 27, was arrested and booked into Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility on $20,000 bail. He faces charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, a second degree felony, possession of a vehicle compartment for contraband, a class A misdemeanor, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.
Ramirez was initially pulled over by a Utah Highway Patrol Trooper at about 4:30 a.m. on Interstate 15 near milepost 2 for registration violation.
“I ran the license plate on the vehicle and it did not return to any vehicle,” Trooper Jesse Williams wrote in the probable cause statement.
According to court documents filed in 5th District Court, when the trooper requested the vehicle registration and insurance for the silver 2010 Ford Taurus Rameriz was driving, the information on both came back to individuals who were not present.
The trooper said he noticed “other indicators of criminal activity,” and called in UHP Trooper Chris Terry and his K-9 Titan. A full search ensued after the dog indicated there was a presence of narcotics in the car, court documents stated.
Troopers located two trap doors on the floor of the vehicle, one under each of the driver’s and passenger seats, where they allegedly found 40 brick-shaped packages wrapped in plastic, all similar in size and packaging.
The trooper opened one of the packages to test the substance, a test that came out positive for methamphetamine using a field test kit, according to the statement.
UHP Trooper Jared Cornia said that another package was found that was wrapped in a towel, which was sent to the state crime lab for testing.
“Because of the threat of fetenyl, I did not open that package to test,” Williams stated.
In total, “the troopers seized 40 packages of meth encased in packaging material weighing 50 pounds total and one open package they sent to the crime lab for identification,” Cornia said.
It is believed the drugs originated out of California and were en route to the upper midwest, the trooper’s statement said.
Ramirez made his initial court appearance on Thursday in 5th District Court and was arraigned on the charges.
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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Hidden compartments yield 40 packages that UHP sums at 50 pounds of drugs found in a vehicle driven by a Las Vegas man on Interstate 15 Tuesday morning near the Arizona-Utah border where he was arrested. St. George, Utah, April 26, 2017 | Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News Silver Ford Taurus in which hidden compartments yield 40 packages that UHP sums at 50 pounds of drugs. The vehicle was driven by a Las Vegas man on Interstate 15 Tuesday morning near the Arizona-Utah border where he was arrested. St. George, Utah, April 26, 2017 | Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News Hidden compartments yield 40 packages that UHP sums at 50 pounds of drugs found in a vehicle driven by a Las Vegas man on Interstate 15 Tuesday morning near the Arizona-Utah border where he was arrested. St. George, Utah, April 26, 2017 | Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News Rudy Ramirez of Las Vegas, Nevada, upon booking into Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility, Hurricane, Utah, April 26, 2017 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News
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Oh snap! When being a mule, check for legal registration and insurance, with plates that match the vehicle…allegedly
And there’s so much more where that came from…. Yeah, building a freaking wall is really going to help the situation…. The tweakers and the big pharma. Too bad we only lock up the little guys ie. Black, brown, poor. Genius idea! Let’s build more prisons! Yeah, that’ll work!
Meth / crack are the most evil drugs out there .
Getting this much off the street is great but we need to ID the source & have it shut down .
Stopping the middle men should be step 1 in nailing the origin providers .
I think stopping the demand is the best option, although I’d have no idea where to even began. Maybe ladybugavenger has some ideas since she’s had some first hand experience with it, indirectly. And I don’t mean that as an insult in the least.
I can say that as long as there is supply, there is demand.
I have nothing to contribute to how to stop someone from trying meth and getting hooked, I tried everything I could to prevent it but in the end arrest, rehab, and the grace of God delivered my son from it.
It’s a persons heart and the irony is them finding out why they made the choice to begin with- meth use comes from pain- to stop the pain. To stop the hurt…More irony- meth causes more pain and more hurt.
It’s a dark world- I personally know that from using meth before. I got to see the other side of what it does to others around you.
It’s hard to comprehend but my son was a thief before he started meth, meth just made him darker and he is a better person having overcome this evilness. And his life was turned from dark to light- thank you Jesus! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I visited him in jail and asked him if wanted to accept Jesus into his heart and he said yes and I led him to the words to speak and from then on his life changed. He wanted to walk out of rehab, they even started his rehab over for missing church service so he spent 8 months in a 6 month program at the Salvation Army in Las Vegas. He told me I didn’t walk out because I knew if I walked out I’d be lost forever….
I’m very proud of my son- he’s 23 and 2 years and 2 months clean and sober….he’s so strong! Sober in Vegas!
God saved him!
I know, I couldn’t be the mother that lost her son to meth, I wouldn’t be able to handle it…..I fought through his addiction, everyday! It consumed me, but I couldn’t just ignore it. I knew, I had to do everything in my power so I didn’t have regrets. I even went to SGPD to have him arrested for selling and using- they practically called me crazy! And did nothing!
But that’s ok, he got arrested on his own and my son could not blame me and in the end- he is redeemed! Praise the Lord!
Some may wonder what my son was arrested for despite my efforts to catch him at a possession charge (no thanks to SGPD he went further down to a grander charge- his charge was grand larceny (of a vehicle) and possession of a controlled substance….his plea was possession of a stolen vehicle. His sentence of 1 yr in prison was suspended and put on formal probation for 2 years….on his 21st birthday he had to see his PO (my husband and I were driving to Vegas to see him) he tested dirty for meth and I found my son on the Clark county jail inmate site and we went to the jail and they showed me his booking photo. He was then sentenced to inpatient rehab. He spent about 21 days in jail waiting for a bed. I sent him care packages in jail, I visited him once. He then spent 8 months in rehab. We visited him a few times in rehab (the rules are tough but so are we) he was transferred to a Salvation Army transitional living in north Las Vegas where he received a culinary certificate from college. 6 months later he was honorably discharged from probation. In June it will be his 1 yr at the transitional facility. He works full time and is looking for his own apt. He came to Oklahoma for a week to visit and my heart wishes he would stay here. I miss my trips to Vegas to see him and until next visit: I love you son!
My mom paid his restitution to the victim and probation fees. I asked her to because if he got arrested again (which he did for probation violation) he wouldn’t be able to blame lack of money. He could only blame himself. Which he did. To this day: he pays restitution everyday of his life by being a productive citizen on the right side of the law.
I pray for all parents that have kids on meth. It’s tough! It’s a lot of work. I say to you- don’t turn a blind eye or dismiss it as not your problem. Treat it like it’s your problem and fight through it. As a mom, I learned much about myself fighting this. You must know: The reward is greater than the pain and suffering.
Correction: not, “to the victim” but “for the victim” I think that’s how restitution works… my apologies to the victim in Vegas. My son was wrong and thank you for not killing him. He will pay back society for the rest of his life.
Well hopefully he’ll stay about from the sort of “friends” that will get him into the drug culture again. Addicts are at a high risk of relapse if they don’t change old habits (cutting ties with their drug crew, etc). good luck
Here’s me in a sentence: me: trying to stop my son doing meth while my parents are enabling him and they are in denial of his drug use. STOP! What are you doing he’s on meth! Don’t buy him a truck! (Everyone lies to me for years where the truck came from)
Here’s my parents: why is she so angry? She’s abusive, I think she’s bipolar, she needs help…….
…*?
Ed. ellipsis: …*
stay about from, lol. * stay away from. i got no excuse for that one. maybe some of mmsandie’s influence on me, lol 😉
Yep! It’s all on him…there was a time I wanted to beat the crap out of him and everyone who enabled him, including my parents….they made me so angry and I couldn’t stop any of them and they all called me crazy (lol) … but now whatever he does is on him- and I didn’t kill anybody in the process- grateful for that!
From california? HA! Dig deeper and you’ll find This crap came from Mexico!
As they pulled over this decoy with 50lbs the vehicle with 1,000 lbs was waving as he passed by….allegedly
Yep, on a good day they’re catching a fraction of 1% of the meth trafficked up I-15
The fabrication of the under floor compartments is a step up in technology for these guys. As pointed out by others, these “losses” are factored into their business model. It gives law enforcement some job satisfaction, and some PR value in the media, but at the end of the day the demand will be satisfied………
I don’t know. They’ve been hiding it in gas tanks for years (probly where dogs won’t sniff it out), and when the vehicle arrives to the delivery destination they disassemble the gas tank from the vehicle. This compartment is somewhat lazy compared to that. But you’re right, at the end of the day a bust likes this is not hardly a noticeable blip in the meth supply overall.