CHP K-9 officer sniffs out methamphetamine stash during Santa Clara County traffic stop
A Central Valley man was arrested in Santa Clara County after a California Highway Patrol K-9 officer discovered a large stash of methamphetamine during a traffic stop last week, authorities said Tuesday.
The traffic stop happened on August 2 along westbound State Route 152 east of Casa De Fruta. The CHP said an officer pulled over a 2013 pickup truck for a traffic violation, and during the interaction with the driver the officer noticed several factors that led him to suspect the driver was engaged in criminal activity.
The driver was also determined to be unlicensed, the CHP said. The officer's K-9 partner Rudi was deployed to perform an exterior check on the pickup and signaled a positive alert.
A search of the truck yielded about 70 pounds of crystal methamphetamine with a street value of about $82,000, the CHP said. The driver, identified as 37-year-old Jorge Luis Lucatero Ramos of Los Banos, was arrested.
He was booked into the Santa Clara County Jail on charges of possession of methamphetamine for sale and transportation of methamphetamine.