COVERT TWP, Mich. — Troopers seized more than $1 million in crystal methamphetamine during a traffic stop in Van Buren County.
It started June 4 around 4:40 p.m. when troopers with Michigan State Police Fifth and Sixth District Hometown Security Teams stopped a vehicle for an expired Georgia license plate on I-196 in Covert Twp.
Troopers say they noticed signs of criminal activity while speaking with the occupants of the vehicle and were given verbal consent from the driver to conduct a search.
Troopers discovered 50 kilograms of crystal methamphetamines wrapped in 51 different packages, with an estimated street value of more than $1 million.
The driver, a woman from California, was arrested for possession with intent to deliver methamphetamines and resisting and obstructing an officer. The passenger, a man from Mexico, was arrested for possession with intent to deliver methamphetamines and providing false information to a police officer.
“In recent years, drug overdoses were killing more people than car crashes and crystal methamphetamine was contributing to those numbers. This seizure should be a somber reminder of the magnitude of the ever-increasing threat we are facing,” according to F/Lt. Richard Pazder, MSP Regional Commander of Southwest Michigan Enforcement Team (SWET).
“Additionally, narcotics trafficking organizations have changed the overall drug landscape in Michigan. As little as five years ago, methamphetamine production happened in much smaller quantities, being produced at the local level by clandestine laboratory operators with knowledge of drug production. Now, nearly all the methamphetamine that is seized is suspected of being tied to foreign or multi-national drug cartels. These cartels have flooded the drug market with a low-cost, potentially lethal drug that is highly addictive and increasingly easy to obtain.”
