Hearing for woman charged in drug bust continued
A request for a continuance from the attorney representing an Arizona woman, who was the driver of a vehicle in which more than $2 million worth of drugs were found following a routine traffic stop, was granted Tuesday in Yuma County Superior Court.
Attorney Robert Trebilcock of the Yuma County Public Defender’s Office said he needed the additional time to continue investigating the case.
He explained that he is still in process of uncovering disclosure that would be critical to putting on a duress defense on behalf of his client. The defense of duress is available to criminal defendants who were forced to commit a crime under threat of or the actual use of violence.
Trebilcock represents 27-year-old Sarah Jessica Rivas, who has been charged with two counts of transportation of a dangerous drugs for sale, one for heroin and one for methamphetamine, and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Rivas, who had her appearance waived for Tuesday’s hearing, remains in custody at Yuma County jail on a bond of $250,000.
According to the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, at about 5:57 p.m on July 2., 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.
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 custody of the state.