A man from California was arrested on Sunday after cops discovered a dozen kilos of heroin and 100s of pills stashed in his car, authorities stated.
Rudolfo M. Mendez-Hernandez, 26, of La Quinta, was jailed after cops first saw his car without noticeable registration or license plates in the parking lot of the Hampton Inn on Route 46, Lt. Joseph Rella stated.
An officer also found a hidden compartment in a space under Mendez-Hernandez’s car, Rella informed, triggering a “lengthy investigation.” At around 3 p.m., the vehicle was taken to police headquarters, where officers discovered 12 kilos of presumed heroin and 500 opiate pills with a street worth of roughly $1 million, Rella stated.
Shortly after the car was drawn from the hotel parking area, Mendez-Hernandez allegedly tried to flee the area in a taxi and was arrested right before going into the automobile, Rella stated.
Mendez-Hernandez was charged with manufacturing and dispersing presumed heroin and opiate pills, possession of heroin, possession of opiate pills and possession of drug paraphernalia, Rella added.
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Stop the drug war with objective of shutting down the black market. The drug war has failed. The drug war is driving the problems, not fixing them. Decriminalization/legalization is necessary, it needs to be backed up with public health announcements explaining exactly why it is needed. Its not in any way condoning the abuse of addictors, it is done bc the alternative, the drug war, has made things infinitely worse on almost every level, to include making drugs abundantly available to any & all that wants them.
We need to pull LE out of the drug biz – that will free up a lot of resources currently chasing their collective tails. When the laws create more harm and cause more damage than they prevent, its time to change the laws. The $1 TRILLION so-called war on drugs is a massive big government failure – on nearly every single level. Its way past time to put the cartels & black market drug dealers out of business. Mass incarceration has failed. We cant even keep drugs out of a contained & controlled environment like prison.
We need the science of addiction causation to guide prevention, treatment, recovery & public policies. Otherwise, things will inexorably just continue to worsen & no progress will be made. Addiction causation research has continued to show that some people (suffering with addiction) have a “hypo-active endogenous opioid/reward system.” This is the (real) brain disease, making addiction a symptom, not a disease itself. One disease, one pathology. Policy must be made reflecting addiction(s) as a health issue.
The war on drugs is an apotheosis of the largest & longest war failure in history. It actually exposes our children to more harm & risk and does not protect them whatsoever. In all actuality, the war on drugs is nothing more than an international projection of a domestic psychosis. It is not the “great child protection act,” its actually the complete opposite.
The lesson is clear: Drug laws do not stop people from harming themselves, but they do cause addicts to commit crimes and harm others. We need a new approach that decriminalizes the disease. We must protect society from the collateral damage of addiction and stop waging war on ourselves. We need common sense harm reduction approaches desperately. MAT (medication assisted treatment) and HAT (heroin assisted treatment) must be available options. Of course, MJ should not be a sched drug at all.