CENTER — A Center man was arrested after drugs packaged for sale were found in his car during a traffic stop on Saturday, May 21, according to the Center Police Department.

A subsequent search of Osvaldo Munoz's home on Sunday, May 22, led to more drug trafficking charges and the seizure of methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl.

Saturday's traffic stop was during a traffic operation conducted by CPD with the assistance of the Saguache County Sheriff's Office, CPD Chief Dale Meek reported.

Munoz, who had an outstanding warrant, was stopped as he turned into the Dollar General parking lot after being spotted by an officer on Highway 112. During a search after the arrest, trafficking amounts of heroin, methamphetamines and fentanyl were all located on Munoz and in the vehicle. These items were divided for individual sale, Meek reported.

Munoz was charged with his warrant, which was for dangerous drugs and driving on a revoked license out of Saguache County. Munoz was additionally charged with three separate counts of suspicion of trafficking in a controlled substance, one for each of the listed narcotics.

On May 22, at approximately 2:30 p.m., officers executed a search warrant on the residence of Munoz based upon the arrest and confidential information that led officers to believe Munoz was dealing narcotics out of his residence behind Center Schools.

Officers seized 410 grams (nearly a half kilo) of methamphetamines, .222 grams of heroin and an additional 60 grams of fentanyl (nearly 700 pills combined) during the search of the residence.

“This is a significant seizure, especially with the lethality of such small amounts of fentanyl,” Meek said.

Munoz was charged with the additional charges from the search warrant of:

• unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, sale or possession (methamphetamines) a drug felony first-degree offense.
• unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, sale or possession (heroin) a drug felony first-degree offense.
• unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, sale or possession (fentanyl) a drug felony first-degree offense.

Munoz was initially given a $100,000 bond but it was reduced to $25,000 after he appeared in Saguache County court. The original trafficking charges from May 21 also were given a $25,000 bond in Rio Grande County.

"We are continuing to follow up on the sources of these narcotics that Munoz was selling," Meek said. "I want to commend our officers. They were out in force with the Saguache County Sheriff’s Office on an operation targeting bad driving when the original traffic stop was conducted. The officers did an excellent job identifying the signs of narcotics trafficking. They were persistent at gathering the necessary evidence for the arrest, the subsequent search warrant and gathering more evidence for additional charges. I am confident they will continue to make our town safer whether it is targeting reckless driving, enforcing laws against violence or attacking the narcotics problem in the area."