Contributed Photo/Courtesy GCSO: Anthony Abril was arrested and booked into the Graham County Adult Detention Facility for possessing cocaine, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.
By Jon Johnson
SAFFORD – A Phoenix man who ironically was driving through Safford late Sunday night on his way back home from a trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico in order to avoid police interaction was caught with 2.9 grams of cocaine and a joint of marijuana.
According to a police report, the man – identified as Anthony Abril, 27, – had traveled via Greyhound bus to Albuquerque to purchase the car he was driving. On his way back, he advised that he had picked up some cocaine in a truck stop in New Mexico and had used some of it as well as some weed during his trip home.
At about 11:30 p.m., a Safford officer noticed Abril traveling 55 mph in a 35-mph-zone and initiated a traffic stop at the Circle K at 1123 W. Thatcher Blvd. As the officer approached the vehicle, he reported smelling a strong odor of marijuana.
Abril provided a Medical Marijuana card, but it was from 2018 and was expired. During a tow inventory, the cocaine was found along with a plastic straw with residue wrapped up in a $1 bill. The joint was also found during the tow inventory, along with two digital scales, several plastic packaging materials and a blue prescription pill.
Abril denied selling any drugs and said the cocaine was for personal use and that he had used both the cocaine and marijuana recently, according to the police report. However, due to the scales and packaging material, the officer arrested him for possession of a narcotic drug for sale, as well as possession of a narcotic drug, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Abril was then booked into the jail and his vehicle was towed from the scene.
