SAN ANTONIO – Three people who federal officials say were dealing methamphetamine in the parking lot of a Jim's Restaurant on the city's Northeast Side early Tuesday morning have been identified.
Rabbi Lee Ponce, 18; Rudy Aragon, 18; and Mercedes Trinidad, 30, are each facing a charge of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
The drug bust happened just after midnight at the Jim's Restaurant located at Perrin Beitel Road and Loop 410, authorities said.
Federal and state officials arranged an undercover drug deal with Ponce, who agreed to sell an agent approximately four kilograms of meth, according to John Wood, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas. Wood said Ponce and Aragon arrived at the Jim's Restaurant together and Trinidad arrived shortly after.
A news release stated that a K-9 alerted officials to possible narcotics in Trinidad's vehicle, which prompted authorities to search the car. Authorities said they found 4.6 kilograms of methamphetamine during a search of Trinidad's car.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety all assisted in the case.