500,000 lethal doses of fentanyl seized, 2 arrested in SLO County traffic stop

Two people were arrested after an April traffic stop in Nipomo turned up more than two pounds of fentanyl, enough for 500,000 lethal doses, the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday in a news release.

The Sheriff’s Office said members of the Gang Task Force were tracking 31-year-old Julian Ackerman of Coalinga that month because he was suspected of driving into San Luis Obispo County with a large amount of narcotics.

On April 22, deputies spotted Ackerman’s car on northbound Highway 101 and pulled it over just north of Highway 166. Zoe Rutledge, a 20-year-old from Nipomo, was the only other person in the car.

The car came to a stop on the shoulder of the highway just south of the Tefft Street off-ramp in Nipomo.

While a deputy questioned Ackerman and Rutledge, the car took off and exited the highway onto Tefft Street. Deputies stopped the vehicle at Tefft Street and Beechnut Street, where they were able to detain Rutledge.

Ackerman fled the vehicle and was ultimately detained in a field near East Branch Street after being spotted in the front yard of a house.

In the field where they arrested Ackerman, detectives found a backpack that had also been inside the car. The backpack contained a kilogram, or about 2.2 pounds, of fentanyl. Depending on how its sold, the drugs could be worth between $25,000 and $125,000.

If the fentanyl is pure, the kilo found could contain a half-million lethal doses, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Ackerman was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance for sale, transporting a controlled substance for sale, and resisting a peace officer. Rutledge was arrested for attempting to evade a peace officer in a reckless manner.

Both are currently in custody at the San Luis Obispo County Jail.