During a traffic stop of a vehicle Sept. 16 in the 200 block of East Southern Ave., Apache Junction Police Department officers discovered the driver of the vehicle, Sergio Barrios Valle, 38, of Glendale, had no legal driver license and was found to be in possession of possible fentanyl and black tar heroin, police said.

“Detectives working in coordination with the East Valley Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration were able to develop probable cause for further search warrants in two separate locations in Glendale. The results of those warrants yielded $10,358 U.S. currency, 410 gross grams of suspected Methamphetamine, approximately three pounds of heroin, in excess of 4,500 M30 fentanyl pills and two firearms,” Cpl. Marshall Harshman, AJPD’s public information officer, said.

“While processing the evidence at the traffic stop, an AJPD officer was transported to Mountain Vista Medical Center for a possible fentanyl exposure. The officer received several doses of Narcan on his way to the hospital and a drip line by Superstition Fire and Medical District staff. The officer was later released from the hospital and is currently recovering from his ordeal at home,” Harshman said.

Barrios Valle, of Sonora, Mexico, was arrested and booked into the Pinal County Detention Center awaiting his initial appearance hearing. He was initially charged with possession of dangerous drugs, possession of dangerous drugs for sale, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics for sale, leasing a building for the purpose of distributing dangerous drugs, firearms violations and using an electronic communication in drug-related transactions, police said.

Apache Junction Police Department would like to remind the public that all suspects are considered innocent until proven otherwise in a court of law, Harshman said.