2 alleged drug traffickers arrested after troopers find 69 pounds of meth during Cedar City traffic stop

File photo of a Utah Highway Patrol vehicle, Parowan, Utah, May 24, 2022 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — Two suspected drug traffickers were arrested in Cedar City early Sunday morning after a search of their vehicle yielded 69 pounds of crystal methamphetamine.

Iron County Jail, Cedar City, Utah, Nov. 24, 2021 | File photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Emily Brennan, 33, and Albert Robledo, 44, were both booked into Iron County Jail shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday. They each face multiple charges, the most serious being possession of controlled substance with intent to distribute, a second-degree felony.

According to a probable cause statement filed Monday in support of their arrests, Brennan was the driver of a white Mazda CX-5 that was observed traveling without its lights on shortly after midnight Sunday on northbound Interstate 15 just north of Cedar City.

“I pulled out of the median and caught up to the vehicle and ran a records check on the Ohio license plate,” the arresting Utah Highway Patrol trooper wrote in the affidavit. “I found that it was a properly registered rental car out of Ohio. I pulled in behind it and turned on my emergency lights.”

After the vehicle pulled over to the side of the roadway near mile marker 66, the trooper approached the occupants and explained the reason for the stop. In addition to having its headlights turned off at night, the vehicle did not have working taillights, according to the statement.

“During the stop, I started to be suspicious of criminal activity,” the trooper wrote, adding that another trooper arrived shortly thereafter with a K-9 officer and conducted a free air sniff of the vehicle. The K-9 reportedly detected the odor of narcotics, which prompted the troopers to conduct a probable cause search of the vehicle.

During the ensuing search, the troopers found four bags in the trunk containing some clothing items, in addition to approximately 69 pounds of a crystalline substance that was determined to be meth. 

The arresting officer also noted that the seized meth is “a substantial amount” worth an estimated $1.25 million to $2.5 million, if it were to be broken down and sold locally at the going rate of $40 to $80 per gram.

Troopers also found a small amount of marijuana that allegedly had been purchased in Las Vegas, although neither of the vehicle’s occupants had a medical marijuana card.

Robledo, the passenger, was also determined to be on parole out of Minnesota for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

As of Monday afternoon, neither Brennan nor Robledo had yet made their initial appearance in 5th District Court.

This report is based on statements from court documents and law enforcement officials and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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