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Police confiscate $1M worth of drugs, guns and cash from Northeast ABQ hotel
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The Albuquerque Police Department arrested two people, then found “well over $1 million” worth of drugs and almost $50,000 in cash inside a Northeast Albuquerque hotel room Friday.
Xavier Garcia, 28, and Merena Perez, 24, both of Albuquerque, were arrested on warrants. “Additional charges will be added as detectives investigate the drugs, guns and cash that were found in the hotel room,” APD spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said in a news release.
Sometime Friday, an officer was patrolling the area of the Red Roof Inn in the 2000 block of Menaul Boulevard, near University, when they found a car whose owner — later identified as Perez — had a felony warrant for robbery and determined she was staying at the hotel, according to a criminal complaint filed at Metropolitan Court.
When officers attempted to contact her in her room, a man — later identified as Garcia — opened the door and told police she was there. Police then arrested Perez after seeing a firearm and drugs on the bed, police said. However, officers unsuccessfully tried to handcuff Garcia, who ran then jumped out of the hotel from the second floor. He got up and continued running. A drone later located him hiding near another hotel where he was arrested, Gallegos said.
When officers searched Perez’s room, they found 6,142 grams of fentanyl, 2,344 grams of cocaine, 522 grams of heroin, $47,227 in cash, three handguns and an AK-47, he said.
