HIDING UNDER HIS JACKET
Gallup, July 11
A man from Lukachuai, Arizona, was arrested for possession of a narcotic drug after he was caught smoking fentanyl near a children’s dentistry.
On July 11, around 5:15 pm, Gallup Police Officer Cindy Romancito was patrolling the American Heritage Plaza and was near the Gallup Children’s Dentistry at 802 U.S. Hwy. 491 when she noticed a man with a jacket over his head. The man was later identified as 20-year-old Mohican Luengas.
According to her report, Romancito was concerned for the man, so she approached him. Luengas did not hear her coming, and continued what he was doing.
Romancito pulled down Luengas’ jacket, and a cloud of smoke shot up to the sky. She also noticed the smell of burnt plastic.
Luengas reportedly dropped the items he was holding, and they landed on the ground. Romancito went to pick them up, and noticed a blue fentanyl pill inside some aluminum foil. She also found some aluminum foil that had burned.
Romancito arrested Luengas for the charge and transported him to the Gallup Police Department in her patrol car. As she was doing that, he reportedly began shouting racial slurs at her and kicking one of the patrol car doors.
When he was placed in a holding cell Luengas told officers that he “was going to take a crap” in the cell. Officer Daniel Brown escorted him to the restroom.
Luengas’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 31.
NOT SHOWING UP IN COURT
Gallup, July 28
A woman from Bloomfield, New Mexico who was caught with fentanyl at a Gallup gas station and didn’t show up to her original court date.
On July 28, Gallup Police Officer Timothy Hughte was dispatched to the Speedway North at 701 U.S. Hwy. 491 after employees of the gas station called Metro Dispatch and said a woman, who was later identified as Rachel Haudley, was trespassing.
According to his report, Hughte noticed a woman who matched the 33-year-old’s description, but he had the gas station manager come outside to confirm it.
Haudley was trying to cross U.S. Highway 491. When officers finally met up with her, they found two vape pens and two metal straws inside her backpack. Some aluminum foil was also in her backpack. There was one small blue pill which Hughte identified as fentanyl inside the aluminum foil.
She was arrested for possession of a controlled substance.
Her case was bonded over to district court on April 17. An arraignment hearing was scheduled for May 6, but Haudley didn’t show up. A judge wrote up a warrant for her to appear in court, and she was served that warrant on July 9. Her next arraignment hearing is scheduled for July 22.
HIDING DRUGS UNDER BABY CLOTHES
Gallup, Oct. 8, 2021
A Gallup man who was found with methamphetamine and fentanyl is now finally facing a jury after almost three years.
On Oct. 8, 2021 at around 11 am, Gallup Police officers, detectives, and agents conducted a search warrant sat a home in the 400 block of McKee Drive. They knocked on the door, and when no one answered after 20 seconds, they reportedly opened the door. They found an older woman who was allegedly speaking Arabic sitting at a kitchen table. None of the officers spoke Arabic, so they weren’t able to communicate with the woman, but just then the suspect, Mohammed Uweis, walked into the kitchen.
Officer Lionel Desiderio handcuffed Uweis, who was 53 years old at the time, and asked him if they could search the residence, which he agreed to.
According to the police report, officers found a glass-like substance inside a plastic baggie hidden in a wicker basket under some baby shirts. They also found some digital scales and two glass pipes that had a black residue inside them, along with some fentanyl pills.
In total Uweis had 3.7 grams of methamphetamine in his possession.
He was charged with trafficking methamphetamine and possession of a controlled substance. His case was bonded over to district court on March 9, 2022. After multiple canceled trials, his jury trial is scheduled for July 23.
