A man caught with 68 pounds of methamphetamine was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison on Thursday.
Unified Police pulled over Blake Arcand, of British Columbia, on Interstate 15 in August of 2016 near the line of Salt Lake and Utah counties. Based on a tip from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), officers brought in a drug-sniffing dog and found 68 pounds of meth — $2 million in street value — in a blue suitcase in the trunk.
DHS had passed to Unified Police information about someone possibly smuggling the drug through Salt Lake City in a silver Nissan Altima.
A Unified Police officer saw a silver Nissan Altima following a truck too closely, and pulled it over, according to the probable cause statement. The man — Arcand — seemed “extremely nervous” answering the officer’s question, court documents state. Arcand’s history showed Stone that the man had been involved in a 2005 drug smuggling operation and was being sought in an open Washington state case.
In August of 2016, police had said it was the largest meth bust in the state’s history.
Arcand was charged with felony-level possession with intent to distribute in U.S. District Court.