UHP arrests driver near Cedar City after reportedly finding 116 pounds of meth inside truck

Closeup of Utah Highway Patrol patrol vehicle, Cedar City, Utah, May 14, 2022 | File photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

CEDAR CITY — A woman suspected of drug trafficking was arrested in Iron County on Friday after officers reportedly found 116 pounds of crystal methamphetamine inside her pickup truck.

Kimberly Woodcock, 44, was booked into Iron County Jail on Friday evening on suspicion of multiple charges, including possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, DUI, failure to operate a vehicle within a single lane and possession of drugs and paraphernalia.

According to the probable cause statement filed in support of her arrest, Woodcock was the driver of a black Chevrolet Silverado that had been northbound on Interstate 15 in Iron County.

Another motorist had called dispatch saying the truck had been swerving “all over the road” and had almost hit their vehicle near mile marker 43, the arresting Utah Highway Patrol trooper wrote in the affidavit.

A short time later, the Silverado reportedly passed the trooper’s vehicle near mile marker 63 just north of Cedar City. 

“The suspect vehicle passed me northbound, so I pulled out to further observe its driving behavior,” the trooper wrote. “I watched the pickup swerve from the right lane over the center dashed line and then over to the right over the white fog line.”

After observing the infractions, the trooper pulled the vehicle over near mile marker 68.

A Utah Highway Patrol vehicle with 116 one-pound bags of crystal methamphetamine seized near Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 23, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Utah Highway Patrol, St. George News / Cedar City News

The trooper reported that he could smell the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle as he began talking to the driver. Suspicious of further criminal activity, he asked her about the marijuana.

“She told me there was a small amount of marijuana and Xanax inside the truck,” the trooper wrote. Noting that the driver didn’t have a medical marijuana card, the trooper wrote that he then performed a probable cause search of the vehicle.

The subsequent search reportedly yielded 116 plastic bags, each containing 1 pound of a white crystalline substance consistent with meth, inside the toolbox of the truck. The drugs have an estimated street value exceeding $1 million, according to UHP. 

Woodcock, who is being held without bail in Iron County Jail, has not yet made an initial court appearance. Although her place of residence wasn’t disclosed on the court documents or jail booking records, the arresting trooper wrote that Woodcock has “connections to Mexico and is a significant flight risk.”

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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