By BOB GIBBINS
An anonymous tip to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday led to the seizure of more than 25 grams of a substance believed to be methamphetamine and $16,500 in cash.
Sheriff’s Investigator Nate King said the caller phoned the sheriff’s office about 11 a.m., reporting a black Nissan Titan pickup and a black Denali traveling together through Tahlequah with a large amount of methamphetamine. King said Tahlequah police and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol were notified and started looking for the vehicles, without success.
Authorities spoke with the tipster again, and King and an investigator for the District 27 drug task force joined in the search. Fort Gibson police and Muskogee County sheriff’s deputies were also notified.
The pickup was spotted at the store on Four-Mile Road and U.S. Highway 62. Law enforcement personnel kept the truck under visual surveillance and watched as it returned to U.S. 62 and continued west toward Muskogee. When the truck made an alleged illegal lane change, it was stopped by Muskogee Sheriff’s Deputy Kent Barber.
After the driver, Jose Marquez, was issued a citation for the lane change, he granted permission for a search of the truck. The cash was found inside the cab.
A K-9 officer arrived, and the dog alerted on the rear of the truck near the license plate. King said he and Barber found a baggy containing a crystalline substance believed to be methamphetamine concealed around the spare tire.
Marquez and a passenger, Lourdes Juarez, were arrested and booked into the Muskogee County Jail on drug-trafficking charges. They will be prosecuted in Muskogee County.
King said the cash was seized and forfeiture will be sought, with the funds being distributed among the involved agencies.
Tahlequah Officer Todd Carnes and OHP Trooper Tommy Mullins were involved in the search while the vehicles were still believed to be in Cherokee County. King said the Denali was also located and stopped, but no contraband was found.
