Alleged meth run lands man in jail

Katharhynn Heidelberg

Daily Press News Editor

MONTROSE — A drug suspect feigned ignorance of the methamphetamine allegedly found in his possession Wednesday night, but his protests weren’t enough to keep him out of jail.

Jos/ Luis Hernandez-Fierros, 43, was being held on a $150,000 bond as of Thursday and stands accused of possession of more than 1 gram of a schedule II controlled substance, possession with intent to distribute and, because he allegedly transported drugs across state lines, as a special offender.

Formal charges have yet to be filed.

“We had information that he traveled out of town to obtain an unknown quantity of meth,” Delta/Montrose Task Force Agent Jack Haynes said Thursday.

The task force had been investigating Hernandez-Fierros for a few weeks and conducting surveillance. At 11:30 Wednesday night, agents spotted his vehicle southbound on Highway 50 from Olathe, and were ready with search warrants for both his vehicle and home. With the assistance of the Colorado State Patrol and Montrose Police Department, the task force stopped Hernandez-Fierros near the airport.

He wasn’t quite ready to talk to them, Haynes said.

“When police stopped him, he stopped, but then attempted to drive away. He was stopped a short distance later and removed from the vehicle. We believed there would be a quantity of drugs in the vehicle and that he could be armed and dangerous.”

Haynes said he asked Hernandez-Fierros if he would cooperate and if there were drugs in the vehicle. “He laughed and said there were no drugs in the truck; he didn’t know anything about drugs in the truck.”

However, a search of his vehicle Thursday morning yielded more than 2 grams of presumed meth, with an estimated street value of $6,000, in Hernandez-Fierros’ luggage.

A search of his residence on North First Street did not yield any drugs, but agents did recover alleged drug paraphernalia.

“We’re trying to clearly establish his residence status, whether he had any kind of residency card. Some of the documents we found appear to be not of very good quality. We’re in the process of trying to confirm his legal status,” Haynes said.

According to the Montrose County Jail, a court date for Hernandez-Fierros hadn’t been set as of Thursday.