It’s being called one of the state’s largest meth busts in recent memory, and some of the circumstances surrounding the find are a bit unusual.
After officers pulled over a truck Wednesday on I-40 near Holbrook, the Navajo County Sheriff Department’s drug dog located 58 pounds of crystal methamphetamine inside an air compressor on the vehicle. The meth has a street value of more than $2.6 million, according to the sheriff’s department.
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The driver of the vehicle, Erasmo Aguirre-Padilla, 32, was alone.
Chief Deputy Jim Molesa told 12 News the person who packaged up and hid the meth tried some things a bit different from the way many drug transporters try to hide drugs.
“The person divided 58 pounds of crystal meth into several bundles, wrapped the meth packages in cellophane, then dipped those packages into grease to try to hide the odor,” he explained. “They put the grease-covered bundles into dozens of Tupperware containers. Then, they took it one step further and put the Tupperware containers inside a heavy-duty metal air compressor.”
A sheriff’s department K-9 managed to smell the meth inside the compressor even though it was buried in multiple layers of protection.
Navajo County Sheriff K.C. Clark says the situation is not only troubling because Aguirre-Padilla was allegedly smuggling drugs but also because he was recently arrested by the Department of Homeland Security and was on release from its custody when he was caught.
“Some of these individuals like Aguirre-Padilla are criminals and are a danger to our communities,” Sheriff Clark said. “The damage that 58 pounds of this poison does to our families and communities is huge. How many other loads of this poison has he done while on a (federal) ‘catch and release’?”
Aguirre-Padilla was booked into the Navajo County jail pending several charges, including: transportation of a dangerous drug for sale; possession of a dangerous drug for sale; and possession of drug paraphernalia.
