Deputies confiscate meth in 3 El Reno area busts
Value of illegal drug estimated at more than $750,000
EL RENO — Efforts to target methamphetamine smuggling from Mexico has paid off for Canadian County Sheriff's deputies who have seized more than $ 750,000 of the illegal drug in just over a month, the sheriff reported.
Deputies have seized three separate loads of meth in five weeks in June and July totaling 223 pounds. Three people have been arrested.
Sheriff Chris West said both drivers in the arrests from June 11 and July 13 were in the country illegally and had been deported "multiple times on a number of different felony charges." The driver arrested in a July 26 case is an American with ties to Mexican drug cartels, West said.
The names of those arrested were not released.
“I'm extremely proud of the hard work and dedication of my deputies on busting these drug smugglers, and I have high hopes that our investigation will bring these outlaws and some of their cohorts to justice,” West stated in a news release.
On July 26, just after midnight, a deputy stopped an eastbound minivan on Interstate 40 near U.S. 81 in El Reno. The driver of a silver, 2010 Dodge Caravan was stopped for driving with a defective brake light. Deputies found 117 pounds of meth. The driver said she was going from Los Angeles to Atlanta to visit relatives.
On July 13, just before noon, an eastbound car was stopped on Interstate 40 near State Highway 92.
Deputies said the driver was traveling on the right shoulder for a quarter of a mile for no apparent reason, and after the driver was stopped, an odor of marijuana was noticed inside the vehicle. A substance identified as 24 pounds of meth was found in a gray-colored suitcase and a FedEx cardboard box.
On June 11, deputies stopped an eastbound pickup just west of Czech Hall Road after a deputy clocked the driver speeding on radar. A drug dog detected the meth hidden in luggage in the back seat.
More meth was found in a tailgate. In the pickup, 82 pounds was seized.
The estimated value of all the meth is more than $ 750,000. Charges had not been filed Thursday against the drivers, West said.