TOWN OF EAGLE, Colo. — Roughly 13.5 pounds of suspected heroin was seized during a traffic stop on I-70 near the Town of Eagle Wednesday.
Detectives with the Eagle County Sheriff's Office and the Vail Police Department pulled over a vehicle for following too close. Authorities made contact with the driver, who consented to a search of the vehicle.
The sheriff's office says the driver quickly admitted that illegal narcotics were hidden inside a child car seat. It's there where several packages of suspected heroin were discovered.
Detectives located nine neatly wrapped packages, labeled "PEYO," containing an estimated 13.5 pounds of suspected heroin.
The driver of the vehicle, 23-year-old Mario Contreras Lopez of California, is being held on a $100,000 bond. He is facing several felony drug charges, including distribution of a schedule 1 controlled substance-heroin, possession of a schedule 1 controlled substance-heroin, and special offender importation of heroin.
The detectives that made contact with Lopez are assigned to the Gore Range Narcotics Interdiction Team. They were on traffic patrol near the Town of Eagle at the time.
The Gore Range Narcotic Interdiction Team is a multi-jurisdictional drug task force. It is made up of local law enforcement partners and detectives with the Eagle County Sheriff's Office and the Vail Police Department.
