ST. GEORGE — A traffic stop on northbound Interstate 15 in Washington County Friday morning led to the discovery of more than 10 pounds of suspected methamphetamine – after an officer noticed tool marks on one of the SUV’s interior side panels that opened into a small storage area where 10 plastic packages were discovered.
On Friday, a Washington City Police officer working patrol just before 2:30 a.m. on Interstate 15 noticed a black SUV with Minnesota license plates swerving in between the two travel lanes as the vehicle headed north towards the Washington Parkway exit, and after following the SUV for three miles, the officer conducted a traffic stop near Exit 16 in Hurricane.
According to the probable cause statement filed in support of the arrest, the officer approached and spoke to the driver, identified by her Missouri driver’s license as 25-year-old Marcy Harris, a resident of a suburb of St. Louis. While speaking to the driver, the officer also noticed the three passengers also from Missouri that were later identified as 28-year-old Trevon Carson, 19-year-old Heavon Johnson and 18-year-old Zavion McGee.
The report also states that during the stop, the officer detected the strong odor of burnt marijuana coming from the rented SUV.
In the meantime, the officer returned to his patrol vehicle to write up a citation for the lane violation, while a second officer responded to the scene to assist as all four occupants were asked to step out of the SUV, and based on the burnt marijuana odor detected by the initial officer, according to the report, the driver was advised that the vehicle would be searched.
In the rear cargo area, officers recovered a loaded Glock firearm in a hard case that had a round in the chamber, as well as a magazine loaded with ammunition.
As the search continued through the cargo area, suspicions were raised when officers noticed what appeared to be tooling marks imprinted on the side panels, leading authorities to believe the panels had recently been removed or were somehow manipulated. When the covers were removed, inside authorities found 10 vacuum-sealed bags containing methamphetamine. Each of the packages weighed approximately one pound and were field tested as positive for the substance.
The 10 pounds of methamphetamine recovered from the SUV was valued at more than $100,000, the report states.
Following this discovery, all four occupants were detained while the Washington County Drug Task Force was dispatched to the scene to assist in the investigation and in interviewing the suspects.
When asked, Harris claimed responsibility for the vehicle and the pistol, and then went on to explain the gun belonged to her brother. She claimed that she had picked it up in California and was was bringing it back to Missouri to return it to him. One of the passengers, Johnson, declined to speak to investigators and the interview was terminated, while all four suspects denied ownership of the packages, and according to the report, all four also denied having any knowledge of the packages that were found inside of the SUV.
All four suspects were arrested and then transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility each facing one second-degree felony count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Harris also faces a second-degree felony weapons charge, while Johnson faces a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana after a jar of the alleged substance fell from the SUV when the suspects were ordered out of the vehicle.
The officer also requested that three of the suspects, the driver and two of the passengers, McGee and Carson, be held without bail, citing the suspects resided out of state with no ties to Utah. The request was approved Friday morning, while Johnson was being held on $5,000 bail. All four remain in custody at this time.
This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders 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.
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