BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – A man was arrested Monday in connection with a multi-county vehicle chase and drug seizure that drew the response of multiple law enforcement agencies, according to authorities.
Christian Lopez, 20, faces charges of manufacturing/delivering CS PG1/1B over 400 grams and evading arrest/detention with a motor vehicle, both felony offenses, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a news conference.
Watch the news conference below:
On Monday morning, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office narcotics team developed information that Lopez would be traveling through the county with a “large amount” of drugs, Salazar said.
BCSO deputies attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Lopez when he fled, leading to a vehicle pursuit, Salazar said. Deputies pursued Lopez from Bexar County into Guadalupe County.
The Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office said authorities deployed spike strips on Lopez’s vehicle, identified as an orange Hyundai, on Interstate 10 eastbound near Mile Marker 610.
Lopez then slowed down and took an exit onto Highway 90 toward Seguin before stopping near the Guadalupe River Bridge. At some point, authorities said Lopez fled on foot and entered the river.
Lopez was seen dumping a backpack of drugs into the river, according to Salazar.
With aerial support, GCSO said authorities were able to detain Lopez about nine minutes after the chase started.
The backpack was seized, and deputies found approximately 12.5 kilograms – or about 25 to 30 pounds – of drugs. Salazar said the drugs tested positive for a mix of methamphetamine and fentanyl and are worth a quarter of a million dollars, but could be divided and cut to double or triple the value.
Salazar said fentanyl is 50 times more addictive than crack cocaine and can be used to make drugs more addictive, which could be a reason it was mixed with the methamphetamine.
“I can tell you definitively: This drug would have killed somebody had we let it get out in the wrong hands,” Salazar said.
Investigators believe based on the quantity of drugs that there is a tie to a cartel, Salazar said, and they believe Lopez is a “drug mule.”
“A quantity of drugs like this, I’m certain that there’s a cartel tie probably not too far beyond (Lopez), and so our intent is always to climb that ladder and try to get as high up in that organization as we can, again, in hopes of disrupting and dismantling these big criminal organizations,” Salazar said.
Lopez was coming from another part of the state, Salazar said, and the sheriff’s office is working to see if there were stops made and who else may be involved.
The Texas Department of Public Safety and Seguin Police Department also assisted with the chase. GCSO said no injuries were reported, and the traffic impacts were minimal.
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