On December 9, 2015, a Yavapai County Sheriff’s deputy stopped 37-year-old Marcelo Neri-Hernandez driving a red Ford Fusion sedan for a traffic violation on east I40 near Ash Fork. Hernandez was the only occupant and provided a Mexican passport as identification. During a routine records check, the deputy was notified that Hernandez had a valid immigration warrant as a deported felon. Based on the warrant, Hernandez was arrested.
While checking the vehicle prior to towing, the deputy examined the trunk and noticed a spare tire sitting outside its normal storage compartment. When the deputy removed trunk carpet laying over the spare tire compartment, he found 13 wrapped packages of methamphetamine.
Hernandez was booked at the Camp Verde Detention Center on the Immigration warrant along with charges including Possession of Dangerous Drugs for Sale, Transportation of Dangerous Drugs for Sale, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. He is being held on a 3 million dollar bond. Based on an average street price, the conservative value of this meth load well exceeds $600,000 dollars.
During further investigation, the total weight of seized methamphetamine came in at 25 pounds. Hernandez indicated he was driving from California to his home state of Oklahoma but declined to discuss the methamphetamine load.
Partner Against Narcotics Trafficking (PANT) detectives are conducting a follow-up investigation.