El Paso County deputies and K-9 find four pounds of meth in vehicle search

Celeste Springer
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office (EPSO) says deputies and a K-9 found four pounds of meth after searching a car on Aug. 18.
The sheriff’s office says its staff were conducting a targeted auto theft operation, focusing on locating stolen vehicles.
Deputies saw a car with a fraudulent license plate; the tags had expired in March of last year, and they were not registered to the car, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office says 26-year-old Jorge Hernandez Ornelas was behind the wheel.
“Deputies noted multiple inconsistencies in his statements,” the sheriff’s office said.
EPSO says they brought out a K-9 that alerted them to drugs in the car. Once the car was searched, deputies say they found out the car “had been modified to conceal and transport large quantities of illegal drugs.” Inside, deputies allege there were four pounds of meth.
The sheriff’s office says that Ornelas faces the following charges:
Unlawful distribution, manufacture, dispensing, or sale of a Controlled Substance
Unlawful possession of a controlled substance
Special offender – Drug offenses
Fictitious number on plates
He is held on a $50,000 bond, EPSO says.