Thread: AZ - Drug dog finds nothing in car at traffic stop, but sniffs out pot at nearby hous

Drug dog finds nothing in car at traffic stop, but sniffs out pot at nearby house


July 22, 2012 12:00 am • Jamar Younger Arizona Daily Star

Pima County sheriff's deputies arrested four people in Ajo this week on suspicion of smuggling marijuana.

Mashelle Womack, 39; Jesus Tereso De Lopez-Zavala, 34; and a 17-year-old boy are all facing charges of possession of marijuana for sale, transportation of marijuana for sale and possession of drug paraphernalia, said Deputy Tom Peine, a Sheriff's Department spokesman.

The teen's name was not released because he is a juvenile, Peine said.
Another woman, Kristy Ann Fejarang-Blake, 37, was arrested on suspicion of possession of dangerous drugs, Peine said in a news release.

Authorities arrested the suspects late Thursday after finding 25 bales of marijuana, weighing more than 430 pounds, inside a shed at an Ajo home. Ajo is about 100 miles west of Tucson.

The discovery came after a deputy made a traffic stop in front of the home. The deputy smelled marijuana in the car, reportedly driven by Womack, and called for additional deputies and a drug-sniffing dog.

The dog did not smell drugs in the car but alerted deputies to the fence line of a nearby house.

Deputies eventually searched a shed at the home and found the marijuana, along with an illegal immigrant identified as Lopez-Zavala.

Several people were inside the home, including a woman who had a small amount of methamphetamine, authorities said.

Womack, Fejarang-Blake and Lopez-Zavala were booked into Pima County jail. The 17-year-old was booked into the juvenile detention center.

Contact reporter Jamar Younger at jyounger@azstarnet.com or 573-4115.

Drug dog finds nothing in car at traffic stop, but sniffs out pot at nearby house

Now that's a day maker!