Traffic stop leads to coke arrest

By Dan Nienaber
Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO October 11, 2008 12:31 am

— A Willmar man is facing first-degree drug charges after 3 ounces of cocaine were allegedly found in his possession during a routine traffic stop by a Mankato police officer.
Carlos Arsenio Salazar, 21, was exiting from Highway 14 to Riverfront Drive when he caught the attention of officer Andy Johnson by stopping in the middle of the intersection. Johnson reported Salazar stopped for a moment before crossing the intersection and taking the ramp back on to Highway 14.
Johnson followed Salazar, who took the next exit before getting back on the highway and returning to Riverfront Drive. That’s when Johnson stopped Salazar and asked to see his driver’s license.
Salazar looked nervous when he said he had a license but didn’t have it with him, Johnson reported. When Salazar was asked to walk back to Johnson’s squad car, he wouldn’t take his hands out of his sweatshirt pockets.
Salazar had a bag of what looked like cocaine in his left hand when Johnson pulled it out of the pocket, the criminal complaint said. After Salazar was handcuffed, two more bags of powder were found.
Two other people in the car, Steven Silva and Sydney Ferrel, were brought to the downtown Law Enforcement Center with Salazar. Ferrel, who owned the car and is Silva’s stepfather, told police Salazar had asked him for a ride to Mankato.
Ferrel said Salazar works for him at a his body shop in Willmar. He also said he knew nothing about the cocaine. Ferrel wouldn’t have brought his stepson with them if he had known their were drugs in the car, he said.
A field test done on the powder tested positive for cocaine. The total weight of the three bags of powder was 88 grams, or just over 3 ounces.