Traffic stop along I-10 nets pounds of dope

A traffic stop in the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 at Mile Marker 661 just after noon Wednesday, Nov. 29, ended with the arrest of a Kansas man when he was reportedly found with 20 large bundles of marijuana stashed inside his vehicle, Fayette County Sheriff Keith Korenek reported.

While talking to the driver of the 2018 GMC Acadia he stopped for a traffic infraction, drug interdiction officer David Smith said he couldn’t help but notice man’s suspicious behavior, so he asked to search the vehicle.

When the driver refused, Smith called on Guadalupe County Sheriff ’s Sgt. Dustin Crawford and K9 Eddie to come join him on the roadside.

The police dog immediately alerted his handler to the presence of drugs in the vehicle, and officers say the man eventually admitted that he was, in fact, making a rather sizable marijuana delivery to the San Antonio area.

Armed with that bit of knowledge, Smith executed a probable cause search of the Acadia, during which the officer reportedly located a large black trash bag stowed away in the rear cargo area that contained 20 sealed bundles of high-grade hydroponic marijuana.

Saul Nogueda Silva, 31, of Wichita, Kansas, was then taken into custody and booked into the Dan R. Beck Justice Center in La Grange for felony marijuana possession.