In the most recent incident, Deputy Brandon Burdick stopped a 1993 Ford Explorer while patrolling on U.S. Highway 181 south of the city.
The deputy spotted the vehicle at about 10:13 p.m. on Jan. 10 moving down the highway without taillights.
Burdick turned on his overhead emergency lights and the vehicle came to a stop just south of SH 359.
The driver, 20-year-old Adolfo Adrian Aparicio, III, rolled down his windoe and Burdick immediately smelled marijuana smoke on his clothing and inside the vehicle.
Then the deputy noticed that Aparicio had marijuana residue on his driver’s license and insurance papers so he asked the man to step to the rear of his vehicle.
When asked, Aparicio initially denied that he had any marijuana in the vehicle but when Burdick went to search the vehicle he admitted that he had some of the drug in a backpack inside.
When the deputy checked the contents of the bag he found a number of plastic bags of varying sizes which had what appeared to be marijuana in them, he reported.
Burdick asked the suspect if he was selling marijuana but Aparicio did not answer.
The deputy found two small bags one-gallon sized zip-lock bag, all containing what appeared to be marijuana, according to his report.
Burdick then arrested Aparicio on a charge of possession of marijuana, less than five pounds but more than four ounces.
That charge is a state jail felony punishable by up to two years in a state jail facility and a $10,000 fine.
When they got to the Bee County Jail, a search of Aparicio’s pockets turned up a bundle of cash tied with a black rubber band, Burdick reported.
Jailers counted $648 in the bundle. When asked about the cash, Aparicio admitted that he did not have a job and that he had made the money selling marijuana, Burdick said.
Once in the booking room, Burdick counted the money in the presence of the jail staff and it totaled $648.
Lt. Steve Linam was called to the jail to continue the investigation.
Linam weighed the marijuana that deputies had found in the backpack and reported that they had just under a half pound of the drug.
The deputies took the marijuana, backpack and cash into custody and booked Aparacio into the jail.
Two men were arrested after a traffic stop on Dec. 23 when Deputy Abel Garcia noticed a Chevrolet Malibu pass a parked patrol car near the U.S. Highway 181 business exit south of the city.
The vehicle was going about 55 miles per hour in foggy conditions and failed to slow down by 20 miles per hour when it passed the patrol car.
Garcia caught up with the Malibu and stopped it. When he asked the driver, 21-year-old Francisco Gonzales Ochoa, for a driver’s license and proof of insurance, Ochoa said he did not have his license with him.
Ochoa handed over his insurance paperwork but when he did Garcia smelled marijuana inside the vehicle, the officer reported.
The deputy had Ochoa step to the back of the car and he then identified a front-seat passenger as 21-year-old Justin Ylario Garza.
Both men were from Beeville.
Minutes later the deputy who had been in the stopped patrol car, Sgt. Craig Gisler, arrived at the scene to assist Garcia in the stop.
The deputies asked the men where they had been and each had a different story, according to the officer’s report of the traffic stop.
Garcia said he also noticed that Ochoa appeared to be nervous as he answered the questions.
Gisler said he found a plastic bag containing a white powder on the center console of the car and Ochoa was placed under arrest.
Ochoa told the deputies that he had a bag of marijuana in his pants and admitted that the marijuana was his, but not the cocaine, the officers reported. He did say he knew the cocaine was in the vehicle, though, according to officers.
Both men were taken to the Bee County Jail where they were charged with possession of a controlled substance, cocaine, one to four grams and possession of marijuana, less than four ounces.
The cocaine charge is a second degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
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