CEDAR CITY — A 36-year-old suspected drug trafficker was arrested in Cedar City on Sunday morning after a Utah Highway Patrol trooper reportedly found methamphetamine and cocaine inside the man’s vehicle during a traffic stop.
Felix Rodriguez-Portillo was booked into Iron County Jail on suspicion of multiple charges, including two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, a second-degree felony; three misdemeanor counts of drug and paraphernalia possession; and two traffic infractions, a taillight violation and not having a valid driver license.
According to a probable cause statement filed in support of Rodriguez-Portillo’s arrest, a UHP trooper spotted a northbound vehicle just after 7:30 a.m. Sunday on Interstate 15 in Cedar City.
“I caught up to the vehicle near milepost 62 and observed that it had a tail light violation,” the arresting trooper wrote. “The rear window was tinted, and covered up the reflective properties of the brake light.”
After getting the vehicle to pull over, the trooper questioned the driver, identified as Rodriguez-Portillo, and determined that he had a Mexico identification card but no driver’s license. In addition, the vehicle was registered to a different person, whom Rodriguez-Portillo reportedly said he did not know.
“I became suspicious of additional criminal activity,” the trooper wrote, adding that he asked for and received consent to search the vehicle.
Located inside fake electronics contained within the vehicle’s trunk were four packages of drugs in bulk amounts, the trooper wrote. Three of the packages, which together weighed approximately 20.5 pounds, tested positive for meth, while the other package contained 2 kilograms of white powder that tested positive for cocaine, the affidavit alleges.
The charging documents further state that Rodriguez-Portillo is not a legal citizen of the United States and has no known connections to Utah. As of Monday evening, he had not yet made his initial court appearance in 5th District Court.
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, 2022, all rights reserved.