More than $2 million in drugs seized, man arrested in Merced County

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – More than $2 million in drugs were seized with the help of a K-9 dog following a traffic stop in Merced County, also leading to the arrest of an Oregon man, the California Highway Patrol said.

Officers said a K-9 officer conducted a traffic stop on a 2013 Hyundai Elantra for a traffic violation Wednesday around 4 p.m. northbound on I-5, north of Nees Avenue in the Merced County, with traffic violations occurring in Fresno County.

The CHP said the driver, identified as Issac Abraham Sandoval Lopez, 36, of Portland, Oregon, did not have a driver's license. While conducting an inventory of the vehicle before impounding the Hyundai, the officer found a plastic bag on the right rear passenger floorboard that contained several packages of suspected crystal methamphetamine.

Two additional suitcases and a backpack containing several packages of suspected crystal methamphetamine and three packages of unknown narcotics were also discovered, officers said.

The CHP says the stop resulted in the seizure of approximately 262 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 5 pounds of fentanyl powder and 2 pounds of heroin. The street value of the drugs was estimated at $2,669,520. As a result, Lopez was arrested and the case was assigned to the Fresno High Impact Investigative Team (HIIT).