A Union City man apparently tried to set his cell phone on fire to conceal evidence during a traffic stop on I-20 Dec. 23, but the ploy didn’t stop deputies from finding nearly 12 pounds of cocaine in his trunk.
Luis Alexander Tobias Echevarria, 23, has been charged with following too closely, driving with a suspended license, possession of a controlled substance, and trafficking cocaine.
According to the report, Deputy Samuel Hutto was conducting traffic enforcement near milepost 109 when he observed a black Nissan following a pickup at an unsafe distance.
Hutto conducted a traffic stop near milepost 111 eastbound, but when he approached the vehicle, he saw a plume of smoke emanating from the car’s interior.
During the attempt to determine the source of the smoke, Deputy Cole Tilkens found a broken cell phone in the passenger-side floorboard that had been damaged and caught fire due to its lithium battery. Echevarria said the phone was damaged by the track of his driver’s seat, but deputies suspected the phone was deliberately damaged to conceal evidence.
In addition, Hutto said he saw Echevarria inhaling from a vape device believed to contain THC.
Echevarria was removed from the vehicle and told deputies the Nissan was rented by his sister. According to Hutto’s account, it is common for drug traffickers to have third parties rent cars for them to transport contraband.
A probable cause search was then conducted, and deputies located 11.9 of pounds of cocaine inside a brown box, covered in clothing and wrapped tightly in shrink wrap, a tactic sometimes used to attempt to defeat K-9 detection.
Echevarria was then taken to the Morgan County jail.