SUN Staff Report
2/5/09
A Mexican immigrant arrested last week for drug trafficking told police he had previously been caught and deported, according to court documents.
State Police agents were attempting to serve an arrest warrant Jan. 28 on an individual in El Llano when they saw a vehicle that matched information they received about a suspected heroin dealer named Pablo. Three separate individuals had tipped police off to the suspect’s activity, documents state.
Agents pulled over the orange Chevy Avalanche that matched the description and both driver Pablo Martinez-Ayala, 27, of El Llano, and passenger Rogelio Chavez-Rangel, 47, of El Llano, agreed to return to State Police headquarters for questioning, documents state.
The Avalanche was searched after agents received a signed consent form from Martinez-Ayala, and 15 multicolored balloons allegedly containing a brown tar-like substance later identified as heroin was found inside them. In all, the agents seized 32 grams of heroin from the car, located in the center console.
Both men were charged with trafficking a controlled substance and taken to Santa Fe County Jail, where they are being held on no bond on an immigration detainer, according to documents and the Jail’s web site.
Martinez-Ayala told police he was arrested in Albuquerque in the past for selling heroin and had been deported. An online court records database does not show a criminal history for Martinez-Ayala or Chavez-Rangel under those names.