An ‘erratic’ driver was stopped on I-15. $400K of meth was found in his car, police say

A traffic stop on Interstate 15 in Mesquite on Tuesday led to the discovery of nearly 70 pounds of methamphetamine, according to a news release.

The Mesquite Police Department said a 24-year-old Minnesota man, Fredys Ortega Perez, was arrested after a Mesquite K-9 officer discovered about 68 pounds of what was believed to be individually packaged parcels of methamphetamine.

The packages, which contained a “white crystal substance,” according to the news release, have a street value of around $400,000. The packs also contained coffee grounds, which are commonly used by drug traffickers to mask the odor from narcotics.

Perez, a resident of Big Lake, Minnesota, was charged with one felony count of drug trafficking of a controlled substance in excess of 400 grams.

According to an online jail roster, Perez was listed as an inmate at the Clark County Detention Center as of Thursday afternoon.

Perez’s Mazda sedan was stopped, police said, because it was being driven “erratically and significantly below the speed limit.” The stop was made on Interstate 15 near mile marker 121, police said.

Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.