Redmond traffic stop leads to over pound of meth, arrest

A traffic stop on Highway 97 in Redmond Wednesday morning led to the arrest of a 23-year-old Richland, Wash., man and the seizure of over a pound of methamphetamine, worth about $45,000 on the street, police said.

Officers were conducting traffic enforcement on the highway shortly after 8 a.m. when an officer witnessed the minor traffic violation – an illegal lane change – by a southbound Jeep Cherokee and initiated the stop.

The driver pulled over on NW Sixth Street near Quince Avenue, said Lt. Mike Kidwell.

An Oregon State Police trooper stopped to assist the Redmond officer, and a short time later, the officer requested assistance from Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team detectives.

The driver’s identity could not be confirmed at the stop location, but he was taken to the Deschutes County Jail in Bend, where fingerprints were used to confirm he was Oscar Chavez-Garcia. He was being held on $40,000 bail on drug manufacturing, delivery and possession charges.