SALT LAKE CITY — Two Salt Lake County men have been charged with possession of a controlled substance after police held a stake-out and allegedly caught them in the act of moving more than 500 pounds of marijuana.
Police received a tip that a 500-pound shipment was being taken to a residence, at 874 Pueblo St. (1440 West), and organized a surveillance team in unmarked cars in May, according to charges filed in the 3rd District Court on Thursday.
After officers saw a man, later identified as defendant Paul Campos, leave the residence and drive away in a BMW, they started looking through his trash cans for evidence of contraband, charges state.
Police noticed two children watching them from an upstairs window and returned to their vehicles, prosecutors say. Within a few minutes, the BMW had returned to the house, followed by a truck, charges state.
Campos, 21, came back outside and looked at the trash cans and the unmarked cop cars, "and appeared to have figured out he was being watched," charges state. Two officers left the scene, and then the truck left, returning after circling the block, according to court documents.
Prosecutors say Campos and the truck driver, Cesar Marmolejo-Ramirez, began loading large garbage bags into the truck and were immediately trailed by police officers after leaving the scene. They attempted to pull over the BMW, but Campos sped off into a residential area. After exiting the truck, Campos tried to flee before he was ordered to the ground and arrested. Marmolejo-Ramirez, 19, was picked up several blocks away after trying to elude officers, charges state.
A search of the 10 garbage bags revealed 530.1 pounds of marijuana, prosecutors say.
Campos told police that he had been selling marijuana as his primary source of income for about a year, charges state.
Marmolejo-Ramirez, who is from Magna, told police that he was helping Campos move marijuana to the north side of the city.
Both men had large amounts of cash, and officers found a machete, a rifle and a stolen camera upon searching the residence with a warrant.
Both defendants were charged with possession or use of a controlled substance, a second-degree felony; failure to respond to an officer's signal to stop, a third-degree felony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a class-B misdemeanor; and driving on a suspended or revoked operator's license, a class-C misdemeanor.
Campos was also charged with third-degree felony theft, a third-degree felony firearms charge and a class-A misdemeanor weapons charge.
Prosecutors also charged Marmolejo-Ramirez with a class-B misdemeanor reckless driving charge.
e-mail: lgroves@desnews.com