Three men face allegations of criminal conspiracy after Clark Vancouver Regional Drug Force officers searched an SUV in Vancouver and found about 30 pounds of methamphetamine.
Court documents show Hector Bernal Otero and Antonio Ibarra, both 34, and Mario Grimaldo Jr., 27, were arrested Sunday on suspicion of felony criminal conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with the intent to deliver.
According to probable cause affidavits, task force officers were surveilling Ibarra on Saturday, with search warrants in hand for his residence and two of his vehicles. An affidavit says Ibarra lives in Vancouver, in the 8200 block of Northeast Sixth Street.
The officers watched as Ibarra met with two other men who parked a Dodge SUV with California license plates at a residence in the 200 block of Northeast 88th Avenue in Vancouver, according to the affidavit.
The three men went to Ace Hardware on East Mill Plain Boulevard, where police detained them. Grimaldo was identified as the driver of the SUV; Bernal Otero was the passenger, according to the affidavit.
Officers obtained a search warrant for the Dodge, searched it and found 30 bundles of suspected methamphetamine, weighing about the same amount in pounds, inside a hidden compartment of the vehicle, according to the affidavit.
“Based on my training and experience, this amount of methamphetamine is associated with drug trafficking organizations,” a Clark County sheriff’s deputy wrote in the affidavit.
One of the bundles was opened and tested positive as methamphetamine, according to the affidavit.
During interviews with the men, investigators determined Ibarra received shipments of methamphetamine about every three weeks, all of which totaled about 30 pounds. Seven or eight such shipments were delivered over the past six months, according to the affidavit.
The deputy did not detail whether all the methamphetamine was allegedly distributed in Vancouver and Clark County.
Ibarra told investigators he was paying about $2,800 per pound and profited about $300 for each one.
All three men made initial appearances in Clark County Superior Court on Monday morning. Judge Scott Collier set bail for Ibarra and Bernal Otero at $70,000. Grimaldo’s bail was set at $40,000. The men will be arraigned later this month.
