CEDAR CITY — Utah Highway Patrol troopers arrested two drug trafficking suspects following a recent traffic stop near Cedar City.
Booked into Iron County Jail on the evening of May 18 were Reymundo Lizarraga, 34, and Angely Figueroa-Favela, 18.
According to the probable cause statements filed in support of the duo’s arrests, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper pulled over a white SUV that Lizarraga was driving on Interstate 15 at approximately 4 p.m.
The vehicle’s front window tint appeared to be significantly darker than is legally allowed, the arresting trooper wrote, adding that a license plate check on the vehicle and found it did not have valid insurance information on file.
The trooper then activated his emergency lights and pulled the vehicle to the side of the road near mile marker 66 on northbound I-15, north of Cedar City.
“During the course of my traffic stop I became suspicious of further criminal activity,” the trooper wrote, noting that Iron County Sheriff’s deputy and accompanying K-9 officer Vojak then responded to the scene to conduct a free air sniff of the vehicle.
“The deputy informed me of a positive indication, so a probable cause search was conducted,” the trooper wrote in the affidavit.
The ensuing search of the vehicle reportedly yielded multiple packages of drugs that had been vacuum sealed, wrapped in duct tape and concealed behind the rear quarter panels of the vehicle.
According to the affidavit, the packages included approximately five pounds of methamphetamine, one pound of Xanax pills, one and a half pounds of cocaine, more than one pound of heroin, one kilogram of blue M-30 fentanyl pills and 12 grams of an unknown blue substance.
A small baggie of suspected cocaine was also located behind the driver’s seat on the floor, the statement added.
The suspects were both subsequently arrested and booked into jail on suspicion of multiple counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, a second-degree felony. In addition, Lizarraga faces one class A misdemeanor drug possession charge, plus one count of operating a vehicle without insurance, a class C misdemeanor, and a window tint violation, an infraction.
The window in question was measured at 16% light transmittance, darker than the legal limit in both Utah and California.
According to the probable cause statement, Lizarraga is from California with no known ties to Utah.
“He has been arrested for prior charges of drug distribution, weapons possession by a felon, evading and resisting arrest,” the arresting trooper wrote.
Both suspects are being held without bail in the Iron County Jail. Lizarraga’s next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, May 30, while Figueroa-Favela’s next appearance is a detention review on June 5.
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.
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