Moses Lake, Royal City men arrested with drugs worth millions during traffic stop

An Oregon State Police trooper discovered nearly 70 pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine during a traffic stop in Multnomah County.

The trooper pulled over a Dodge Caravan on Highway 97 south of Biggs Junction and spotted a handgun in the glove box.

The two men inside the van, Alberto Alejandro Martinez, 32, and Jose Joel Helguera Del Rio, 31, were detained.

A search of the van turned up 44 pounds of meth and 25 pounds of cocaine, police said. Neither suspect had a permit to carry the gun.

The drugs are estimated to have a street value of $2.3 million.

Martinez, of Moses Lake, and Del Rio, of Royal City, were booked into the Multnomah County jail on suspicion of federal drug and gun charges.

The arrests happened Feb. 23 and were announced on Monday.

An investigation involving several Oregon state and federal agencies is ongoing.

Authorities say they have arrested five people on a Montana reservation in connection with a methamphetamine investigation in Washington state, the Associated Press reports. U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency arrested the people Tuesday on Rocky Boy Indian Reservation. The DEA Seattle division worked with U.S. customs and Border Patrol and U.S. Marshals to conduct the raid. DEA officials say they can’t disclose the charges the suspects face because of the ongoing investigation.

State police say the case is one of the larger drug seizures in recent memory.

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 11:09 AM with the headline "Moses Lake, Royal City men arrested with drugs worth millions during traffic stop."