2 arrested after Utah traffic stop yields estimated $2M in fentanyl

WASHINGTON, Utah (KSL.com) — Police on Wednesday say they found 60,000 fentanyl pills during a traffic stop in southern Utah.

A Washington County sheriff’s deputy stopped a Chevy Impala because it was in violation of window tint restrictions and failed to signal while changing lanes. The incident occurred on northbound Interstate 15 in Washington about 11:40 p.m., police said.

The deputy deployed a K-9 to search the vehicle, and the dog indicated there were drugs inside, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

Police say they found a dollar bill containing “suspected” cocaine in the glove box of the Impala, and 82 individual packages that each had an estimated 1,000 fentanyl pills in the trunk of the vehicle, according to a police booking affidavit.

The pills have an estimated street value of more than $2 million, police said.

Rigoberto Beltran Garibay, 19, who police say was driving the vehicle, declined to speak to officers, court documents state. Police said he did not have an ID from any state in the U.S. but had Mexican identification.

A passenger in the vehicle, Karen Yvonne Alvarez, 39, of Colorado, also declined to speak with officers.

Garibay and Alvarez were both booked into Purgatory Correctional Facility for investigation of drug distribution. Detectives asked that they be held without bail to prevent them from leaving Utah, as they do not reside in the state.