CEDAR CITY — A woman and a man were arrested in Cedar City on Thursday afternoon after Utah Highway Patrol troopers reportedly found 24,000 fentanyl-laced pills and other drugs inside their minivan.
Rachel Marie Aponas, 32, and Christopher Gerard Ruiz, 40, were subsequently booked into Iron County Jail, where they each face one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, a second-degree felony, along with misdemeanor charges related to possession of drugs and paraphernalia.
Additionally, Aponas, who was driving the van, faces a DUI charge and multiple traffic infractions, including failing to provide a child with a proper safety restraint device.
According to the probable cause statements filed in support of the arrests, a UHP trooper had been following the vehicle, which had Nevada license plates, on northbound Interstate 15 when he observed its driver suddenly move onto the Exit 59 off-ramp without first making a proper signal.
“When the vehicle reached the bottom of the off-ramp, I watched as a small child in the back started to move all around the interior of the vehicle,” the arresting trooper wrote in the affidavit. “She clearly did not have a seat belt fastened.”
The trooper also wrote that one of the vehicle’s brake lights was not working and that its driver made an improper left turn.
The trooper then activated his emergency lights and the vehicle pulled into the parking lot of a gas station near 1100 West and 200 North.
According to the affidavit, the driver, after being read her Miranda rights, told troopers there was a methamphetamine pipe in the unlocked glove compartment and that she had smoked meth the night before.
Troopers then conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle and found the pipe where the driver said it would be. They also located a locked cooler in the back of the van. Inside the cooler were approximately 24,000 fentanyl-laced, counterfeit M30 (oxycodone) pills, according to the affidavit.
The total weight of the 100-mg pills was just over 5 pounds, UHP confirmed.
“It was a pretty significant seizure of fentanyl,” Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Clay Allred told Cedar City News.
After being taken into custody, Aponas and Ruiz were interviewed by agents with the State Bureau of Investigation.
“The investigation showed that they both knew the narcotics were in the vehicle,” the affidavit states, adding, “They were being paid to transport them.”
Both Aponas and Ruiz, who are reportedly residents of Las Vegas, are currently being held without bail in Iron County Jail as they await their initial court appearance.
The children who were inside the minivan were safely taken into the care of a responsible party, UHP officials added.
This report is based on statements from court documents and law enforcement officials and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.