At approximately 12:08 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, a Navajo County Deputy assigned to the Criminal Interdiction Unit of the Major Crimes Apprehension Team (MCAT) conducted a traffic stop for several equipment violations on Interstate 40 near Milepost 255, in the Winslow area. An investigation by the deputy led to a sniff of the vehicle by the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office drug detection dog, K9 Zolton. Zolton’s sniff of the vehicle indicated the presence of drugs and a subsequent search revealed three vacuum sealed bags, which was believed to contain illegal drugs. Two of the bags contained four pounds of pills (estimated to be in excess of 16,000 pills) of suspected fentanyl. The third bag contained 2.4 pounds of a white powder that is suspected to be cocaine or heroin. The combined street value is estimated to be in excess of $600,000. As a result, Victor Manuel Cotero-Aguilar, 27, and Carlos Adrian Hernandez-Espino, 18, both of Phoenix, were arrested for transportation of a narcotic drug for sale, possession of a narcotic drug for sale and possession of a narcotic drugs. They were both booked into the Navajo County Jail. Fentanyl is a powerful narcotic pain killer that is up to 100 times more potent than morphine and is extremely dangerous when not used in a prescribed manner and under the direction of a medical doctor. Because fentanyl is so strong, the difference between a dose that will get a person high and a dose that will cause death is very small. Sheriff David Clouse said, “Drugs are being trafficked across our county and being introduced into our communities. Traffic stops like this is one of the ways we remove drugs from our communities. The Navajo County Sheriff’s Office is committed aggressively interdicting and arresting drug dealers and traffickers who operate in our county. This was outstanding work from our Deputy along with his partner Zolton.”
