19-year-old charged after deputies find marijuana products and a gun during traffic stop
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IDAHO FALLS — A local man was arrested Friday evening after a traffic stop resulted in deputies finding drugs and a handgun in his vehicle.
According to a news release from the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office, a traffic stop was initiated after a vehicle had failed to stop at a stop sign near the intersection of 15th East and Iona Road.
When deputies contacted the driver, identified as Rigoberto Avila Mendoza, the smell of marijuana was coming from the vehicle.
A search of Mendoza’s driver’s license shows the 19-year-old had a suspended license.
Deputies asked Mendoza if there were any illegal drugs in the vehicle, to which he responded that there weren’t.
The release states Mendoza was detained, and a search of the vehicle began, where deputies found a handgun, marijuana joints, and a large amount of THC edibles. In total, 163 grams of marijuana products were seized during the search.
After Mendoza was arrested and taken to the Bonneville County Jail, a small baggie of cocaine was found in his shoe, which weighed over 1 gram.
Mendoza was booked and charged with felony possession of cocaine, felony possession of marijuana, and felony introducing contraband into a correctional facility.
Though Mendoza has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.