A 28-year-old California man faces felony charges in Lewis County after he was allegedly found with 89 pounds of a meth-containing substance at Love’s Travel Stop in Napavine on Sept. 26.
Salvador Ramirez, of Stockton, was officially charged with one count of possession with intent to manufacture or deliver a controlled substance in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday.
Ramirez has no prior Washington state criminal history.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, Ramirez was arrested following a months’ long investigation that began when the Tacoma Police Special Investigations Division searched a home in Federal Way on suspicion of drug trafficking. There investigators discovered methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl and heroin.
While interviewing the suspect at the residence, investigators learned of his alleged supplier, a man whose phone number suggested an origin in the Stockton area of California.
A digital surveillance search warrant was later obtained for the suspected supplier’s truck, a Ford F-350 with California plates.
On Sept. 9, officers observed the truck travelling north on Interstate 5 from California to Tacoma.
They began to surveil the truck, first at a storage facility in Tacoma. According to the affidavit of probable cause, the officers followed the truck from the facility as it drove in a “heat check” pattern that traffickers often use to determine if they are being tailed.
From Sept. 9 to Sept. 15, the officers continued digital and physical surveillance, observing “frequent trips with short stays across Pierce, King, Mason, and Kitsap Counties,” according to the affidavit. The trips included quick stops at gas stations and “shopping plaza parking lots.”
On Sept. 15, the officers reportedly observed the suspect, now identified as Ramirez, drive over his cellphone multiple times in an alleged attempt to disrupt electronic surveillance.
Ramirez left for California. Meanwhile, Tacoma police obtained a search warrant on the truck.
On Sept. 26, the truck made its way back to Washington. It stopped at Love’s Travel Stop in Napavine. Ramirez was arrested.
During the search of the truck, police discovered “15.2 grams of a substance that field tested positive for cocaine, 1.2 grams of a substance that field tested positive for both cocaine and fentanyl, and 89 pounds of a substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine,” according to the affidavit of probable cause.
The street value of the meth was said to be around $256,320, “if sold by the ounce,” according to the affidavit.
During the preliminary hearing, Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello indicated this was the largest amount of product he’d seen in a case like this. He asked for bail in the amount of $1 million.
Defense attorney Rachael Tiller argued for bail to remain at $100,000 — the same amount set over the weekend upon Ramirez’s arrest. She noted that family was present in the court room, which she said spoke volumes.
Pro Tem Commissioner Jennifer Johnson set bail at $500,000 cash or bond, citing the significant amount of product found in the truck and the potential danger it posed to the community. She did acknowledge — and said she appreciated — the fact that Ramirez didn’t have any prior felony convictions, both in Washington state and seemingly anywhere else.
An arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 2. Ramirez will look to retain private counsel.
