Three arrested in meth bust

Heather Rawlyk

Friday, June 25, 2004 | 9:08 a.m.

Two men and one woman were arrested early Wednesday evening after a North Las Vegas Police officer found nearly 3 pounds of methamphetamine and more than $20,000 in cash in a car the three were occupying.

The officer stopped the 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix around 5:45 p.m. after the car ran a red light at the intersection of Las Vegas and Lake Mead boulevards, according to North Las Vegas Police spokesman Tim Bedwell.

Bedwell said the officer became suspicious of the vehicle, which bore Montana license plates, after the driver presented an expired New Mexico driver's license and said the three were traveling from California.

"That is pretty common for drug runners to have different state plates and mismatching driver's licenses, traveling from somewhere else," Bedwell said. "That's something that tips us off."

A drug dog was brought to the scene to check the vehicle and found the drugs and $20,335 in U.S. currency, he said.

The driver, Julio Chavez, 37, and two passengers, Alberto Garcia, 43, and Antonia Arvizu-Garcia, 31, were arrested and charged with high-level trafficking, transporting and conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

The money, drugs and vehicle were seized and impounded, Bedwell said.