Alerted by Homeland Security, Utah police officers stopped a vehicle carrying 68 pounds of methamphetamine — at $2 million in street value, believed the largest methamphetamine seizure ever in the state's law enforcement history.
Unified Police Lt. Lex Bell said federal authorities had alerted law enforcement that the vehicle was traveling through Utah on its way to Canada, and UPD officers spotted it late Tuesday afternoon, going north just beyond the Salt Lake-Utah County line.
Police stopped the driver on Interstate 15 for following too close to other traffic, and a drug-sniffing dog alerted to the presence of drugs in the vehicle. The meth was found in a suitcase in the trunk.
Blake Arcand, 56, of British Columbia, was booked into the Salt Lake County jail and charged in U.S. District Court with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, a second-degree felony. He also was being held without bail Wednesday on a federal warrant, jail records confirmed.
Court records also note that Arcand will make his initial court appearance Thursday.
It is believed the drugs were being transported from California to Canada, with stops along the way to distribute portions of it for sale.
In a probable cause statement filed with the jail, UPD Officer William Stone said he pulled over Arcand's vehicle about 5 p.m. Tuesday on Interstate 15 near Point of the Mountain.
The driver initially told him he had flown into Los Angeles and rented a car, and was driving to North Dakota to pick up his wife, Stone wrote.
However, as he checked Arcand's history Stone learned the man allegedly had been involved in a 2005 drug smuggling operation, and also was being sought in an open Washington state case.
The K-9 unit was dispatched, leading to the discovery of the methamphetamine and arrest.
UPD Lt. Lex Bell said the search of Arcand's vehicle also turned up "several new backpacks and a note pad with several cities in Wyoming and Montana written on it.
"Investigators believe Mr. Arcand was going to deliver parts of his load ... to each of these cities," he added.
remims@sltrib.com
Twitter: @remims