A 36-year-old illegal Mexican immigrant faces charges of possession of drug paraphernalia, aggravated assault, felony flight and smuggling narcotics, according to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.
Francisco Guillermo Morales was stopped by a deputy outside the town of Stanfield yesterday as he was driving more than 50 mph in a posted school zone.
The deputy initiated a traffic stop by turning on his emergency lights. The vehicle accelerated and began driving erratically in an attempt to flee.
As a second deputy attempted to deploy stop sticks in the area of Barnes and Russell roads. The suspect swerved toward the deputy, causing the deputy to dive from the roadway to avoid being struck.
The vehicle then left the road and drove into the desert, where the suspect fled on foot. Tracking footprints leading east from the vehicle, deputies located the suspect hiding in a canal.
The suspect was removed from the water and identified as Morales.
A search of Morales’ vehicle turned up three homemade, burlap backpacks with narcotics inside. Further examination of the contents showed Morales was smuggling six pounds of black tar heroin, 34 pounds of white tar heroin and nine pounds of crystal methamphetamine.
The total street value of all drugs seized is $1.6 million. Detectives have determined Morales was smuggling the narcotics for the Sinaloa Drug Cartel in Mexico.
