Body-camera footage shows large amount of drugs found in traffic stop

Maricopa Police Department has released body-camera footage of a traffic stop in which drugs were packaged for sale, including 1.1 pounds of M30 pills, 8 grams of methamphetamine and 4 grams of cocaine. 

InMaricopa on Dec. 8 made a public-records request for footage of the Nov. 29 traffic stop. It received the footage on March 16. 

Mia Lona, 55, and Candace Duncan, 40, were arrested and booked into Pinal County jail on suspicion of possession of narcotics, possession of dangerous drugs, narcotics for sale, dangerous drugs for transport and possessing an open container of alcohol. 

The traffic stop took place West Honeycutt Road and North Porter Road when a check on the vehicle’s license plate showed the vehicle’s registration was cancelled. 

In the footage, a female officer exits a police SUV cruiser and contacts the driver, Lona, and the passenger, Duncan. The officer can be heard telling Lona the vehicle’s registration showed cancelled. Lona asks if she could call her boyfriend for insurance and registration. 

Lona told the officer she had just finished shopping in Phoenix and was headed to Duncan’s home on West Somerset Drive in Glennwilde. Lona denied any weapons or drugs were in the vehicle 

The officer noted that Duncan had a purple purse that she held closely to her side, and that Lona and Duncan were careful about opening the bag. 

 They were asked to exit the vehicle, and a small, half-full bottle of Fireball whiskey was found on the passenger seat.  

According to a police report, during a search of the vehicle, five baggies of M30 pills were found in the purple purse, weighing a total of 1.1 pounds. The exact number of pills was not reported. Two smaller baggies were found in another pocket of the purse containing what police believed to be cocaine and methamphetamine. A small baggie was found in Lona’s wallet, which officers identified as amphetamines. 

In the vehicle’s trunk, officers found about two pounds of a substance that tested positive for methamphetamine packaged in cellophane wrap. Officers also found about $8,000 in cash in the vehicle.