Two people, including a man with alleged ties to Mexican drug cartels, were arrested March 27 after detectives seized 37 pounds of methamphetamine from their vehicle, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office.
Juan Manuel Ponce-Chavez, 22, and Normal Yolanda Juarez, 28, were arrested in San Jose on suspicion of drug trafficking by sheriff's detectives and booked into the county jail, sheriff's Sgt. Andrea Urena reported.
Ponce-Chavez is being held on $1 million bail and Juarez on $500,000 bail, according to Urena.
The arrests concluded an investigation over the past several months by Special Operations detectives into Ponce-Chavez, regarded as a significant San Jose-based drug trafficker, according to Urena.
Ponce-Chavez and Juarez, both of San Jose, were stopped in their vehicle where they were found to have concealed the 37-pound quantity of methamphetamine, according to deputies.
The drugs seized had a wholesale value of more than $200,000 but would be worth much more after being cut and sold at the street level, deputies said.
Ponce-Chavez has been tied to the Mexican state of Michoacan that is "currently occupied and heavily influenced by the remnants of the La Familia Michoacan Cartel, the Los Caballeros Templarios (Knights Templar) Cartel, and the El Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (New Generation Cartel of Jalisco)," Urena said in a statement.
