Bail is set at $1 million for a citizen of Mexico who was stopped in Lewis County early Friday morning and found to have 2 kilograms of suspected fentanyl in his vehicle.
A Lewis County Superior Court judge approved a 72-hour investigative hold for the man, identified in court documents as David P. Navarette-Gutierrez, on Friday, June 6.
Charges had not been filed as of Monday morning.
A review hearing is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10. If charges are not filed by the time of that hearing, Navarette-Gutierrez will be released from custody.
A sergeant with the Centralia Police Department reportedly conducted a traffic stop on Navarette-Gutierrez’s vehicle, identified as a black Toyota Scion TC, sometime before 2:34 a.m. on Friday, June 6, according to court documents and jail records.
Navarette-Gutierrez, who was the driver of the vehicle, reportedly confirmed his identity with a Mexico ID card.
A Centralia K9 was deployed to perform a sniff test on the vehicle and alerted to the presence of narcotics, according to court documents. The Centralia Police Department then impounded the vehicle and obtained a search warrant.
During the execution of the search warrant, officers reportedly located “two brick-style packages containing approximately two kilograms of suspected fentanyl,” according to court documents.
Navarette-Gutierrez was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail on one count of possession of narcotics with the intent to manufacture or deliver at approximately 2:34 a.m. on June 6, according to jail records.
“The state is incredibly concerned about the safety of the community due to the amount of fentanyl,” Deputy Prosecutor Brandi Archer said during Navarette-Gutierrez’s preliminary hearing on Friday, June 6, where the prosecution asked the court to grant a 72-hour investigative hold.
Archer asked Judge Joely Yeager to either hold Navarette-Gutierrez without bail or to set bail at $1 million due to community safety concerns and concerns that Navarrette-Gutierrez is “an extreme flight risk” due to his lack of ties to the community.
Yeager agreed with the prosecution’s concerns and granted the request for $1 million bail during the 72-hour investigative hold.
The bail decision will be reevaluated on Tuesday if charges are filed.
