22-year-old man arrested after 30 pounds of meth found in West Valley storage unit
SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) — Following several undercover drug purchases and investigations, police arrested a 22-year-old man Sunday after they found approximately 30 pounds of methamphetamine in a storage unit West Valley City, according to arrest documents.
According to the Sacramento County Probation Department, an average user can get high for about seven hours on an average dose of 0.2 grams of meth. So, if an average user were to use 0.2 grams, 32 pounds of meth could keep them high for 24 hours a day — for 58 years.
The man who was arrested was identified as Juan Carlos Barajas Bojorquez, who police say is originally from Mexico. According to the affidavit of probable cause, officers obtained a search warrant for a storage unit in West Valley City where Bojorquez was known to visit often.
In that storage unit, officers found approximately 30 pounds of a “crystalline substance” that field tested positive for meth, according to arrest documents. Officers also found more than 350 grams of a “white powder substance” that tested positive for cocaine and about 1,100 grams of a “brown rock-like substance” that tested positive for heroin, according to the affidavit.
Police said they believed Bojorquez “frequented this storage unit on a near daily basis,” according to arrest documents.
Prior to searching the storage unit, officers found about half a pound of the “crystalline substance” that field tested positive for meth at the home address Bojorquez gave officers. That half-pound of meth was reportedly found in a hallway closet and had similar packaging to the substances found in the storage unit, according to arrest documents.
In addition to the substances found in Bojorquez’s reported home address, officers also reported finding international money transfer receipts in a bedroom.
According to arrest documents, officers began investigating a drug trafficking organization in January 2024.
As part of the investigation into the drug trafficking organization, an undercover officer made “controlled purchases” of heroin from Bojorquez around Salt Lake County, according to the affidavit. When Bojorquez was stopped in Utah County for a related search warrant, an agent identified him as the individual who had sold heroin to him.
Of the substances found in the storage unit and Bojorquez’s home address, police said in the affidavit that “each of these items was well above what a user would consume and was individually packaged.”
Officers also said they believed Bojorquez planned to re-distribute each of the substances. He was arrested on Sunday on three separate counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, according to arrest documents.
Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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