Drugs nabbed on rez

By Natasha Kaye Johnson
Dine Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — This past holiday weekend, Navajo Nation Public Safety officers seized more than 608 pounds of drugs including marijuana and cocaine with an estimated street value of $865,600. Officers also confiscated $9,147 in alleged drug money.

A majority of the drugs were seized on I-40 in Sanders after officers were making routine traffic stops and recognized criminal activity. Immediately after noticing unusual behavior and signs, K-9's were called to the scene, where they confirmed the presence of drugs.

"The K-9's were the main tool to the success," said Sgt. Emerson Lee.

Eight full-bred Belgium Malinois police dogs were primary to locating the drugs, along with special tactical training completed by officers. The dogs, which cost $7,500 each, were purchased from a certified K-9 patrol school called Adler Horst, which is based out of Riverside, Calif. This past year alone, the dogs have helped locate $5 million of drugs and sniffed out nearly $500,000 in drug money.

Ideally, the department would like to have the K-9 program grow, and have between four to six dogs in each district, since they have proven to be an asset.

Navajo Police drug busts
On Monday, Timothy Sticks, 48, of Peoria, Ariz., was pulled over around 3:10 p.m. for a traffic violation on I-40 in Sanders. According to the report, Sticks had suspicious travel plans. After he was cited, the officer asked for consent to search the vehicle. After refusal, the officer had a K-9 deployed to the scene. The K-9 alerted to the trunk of the vehicle where officers found 15 bundles of marijuana weighing 209 pounds. Sticks was arrested and booked into the Apache County jail.

John Garcia, 30, and Carlos Garcia, 34, both of Albuquerque, were pulled over on Monday around 1:40 p.m. for a traffic violation on I-40 in Sanders. According to the report, the men kept changing their stories about their trip. The officer asked for consent to search the vehicle, where a K-9 found a small box containing marijuana, and two bundles of currency totaling $222. The driver denied that it was his, and claimed it belonged to someone else. The case was given to Criminal Investigations.

Kanika Flowers, 27, of Mesa, and Jarred Wilkins, 18, of Chandler, were pulled over in Sanders on I-40 around 1:15 a.m. on Sunday for a traffic violation. After stopping the two, the officer asked to search the vehicle. The driver denied search, and a K-9 was then requested. The K-9 located two large compressed blocks of marijuana, weighing 93 pounds. Flowers and Wilkins were booked and taken to Apache County Jail.

On Saturday, Timothy Patrick Taquette, 27, of Detroit, Mich., was also pulled over on I-40 in Sanders for a traffic violation. According to the report, Taquette showed a lot of nervousness, had shaky hands, and slurred speech. The officer deployed a K-9, which found two large plastic bags of marijuana, with a total weight of 41.6 pounds. Just over $100 was also found. Taquette was booked and taken to St. Johns jail facility.

Two Albuquerque men, Ivan Freccas Ortiz, and Oscar Marquez Arana, and one male from Mexico Juan Manuel Espinoza-Ortiz were taken into custody June 30, after officers discovered five pounds of cocaine in their car trunk. Around 7:29 p.m., the three men were stopped for following too close on I-40 in Houck. A K-9 alerted officers to drugs in a ice chest. The men had the cocaine concealed in the insulation of the ice chest. The three were booked and taken to Apache County Jail.