Woman charged in $2 million drug bust
A judge on Monday ordered a bond of $250,000 for the Arizona woman who was the driver of a vehicle in which more than $2 million worth of drugs were found. The drugs were found after a routine traffic stop.
During her arraignment hearing, 27-year-old Sarah Jessica Rivas was informed by Justice of the Peace Greg Stewart that the Yuma County Attorneys Office had reviewed the arrest reports from the case and were charging her with four felony offenses.
Judge Stewart explained to Rivas that she been charged with two counts of transportation of a dangerous drugs for sale, one for heroin and one for methamphetamine, and two counts possession of drug paraphernalia. He then told her that setting the amount for bond was at the discretion of the court.
The reason why he did not reduce the bond, he told her, was that the court had received updated information about the amount of drugs seized during her arrest, which was significantly higher than what was known during her initial appearance.
Judge Stewart scheduled a preliminary hearing for Rivas for 4 p.m. on Aug. 3, but explained to her that her case would likely go before the grand jury within the next few days to determine if there is enough probable cause for it to proceed to Superior Court.
According to the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, at about 5:57 p.m., a 2007 Ford F-150 pickup truck was pulled over after the driver turned off 16th Street and onto Interstate 8. During the course of the traffic stop, deputies requested the assistance of YCSO K-9 “Jax.”
Members of the Yuma County Narcotics Task Force (YCNTF) also responded to the scene to assist with a search of the vehicle, which led to the discovery of numerous packages concealed within the vehicle’s doors.
In all, a total of 107 individual packages containing methamphetamine and one package holding heroin were found in the vehicle. The drugs, which had a combined weight of 112.9 pounds, had an estimated street value of $2,048,423.00.
The approximate weight of the package of heroin was 1.17 pounds with an estimated street value of $31,842.00.
The driver of the car was later identified as Rivas, who is from Bapchule, an unincorporated community in northern Pinal County, within the Gila River Indian Community, south of the Phoenix metropolitan area.
She was arrested and booked into the Yuma County Detention Center on suspicion of transportation of dangerous drugs, possession of a dangerous drug for sale, possession of a dangerous drug, transportation of a narcotic drug, possession of a narcotic drug for sale, possession of a narcotic drug and possession of drug paraphernalia.
There were four children in the vehicle with Rivas at the time, ranging from 5 to 9-years-old, who were all transferred to the care of Department of Child Services.