Speeding ticket leads to discovery of $500K worth of marijuana in Utah, police say

CEDAR CITY (KSL.com) — Another day, another traffic stop by the Utah Highway Patrol for a minor infraction led to a large drug bust Thursday.

A UHP trooper pulled a vehicle over for speeding on I-15 in Iron County just before 4 p.m. When the trooper approached the vehicle, he noticed large duffel bags occupying the area behind the driver’s seat, according to a police booking affidavit.

“I asked the subject what was in the bags. He looked at the bags, hesitated and claimed they were his personal property. Due to the subject’s story of travel and the large bags, I requested a K-9 unit,” the trooper wrote in the affidavit.

The police K-9 arrived at the scene and after sniffing the vehicle indicated the presence of drugs. Based on that probable cause, troopers searched the duffel bags and found 282 pounds of marijuana “with a street value of roughly half a million dollars,” according to the affidavit.

Israel Florencio Romero, 23, was arrested for investigation of possessing 100 pounds of marijuana or more, misdemeanor drug possession and speeding.