Police Dog Finds Massive Meth Stash Inside Car During Traffic Stop In Southern California

A K-9 unit in Southern California on Saturday helped police locate several pounds of drugs stashed inside a vehicle during a routine traffic stop.

Officers from the West Covina Police Department pulled over the driver of a Silver 2010 Nissan Rouge for vehicle code violations on the Interstate 10 Freeway, only to discover methamphetamine underneath the driver's seat, according to KTTV, a Fox affiliate in Los Angeles.

After police found the drugs, they called a narcotics detection K-9 onto the scene, according to a Facebook post by the department. Police detained the driver while "Rye," the department's newest addition, barked during an inspection of the vehicle. The dog signaled officers, which led them to believe there were more drugs.

Police impounded the vehicle and brought it back to the station where they found more meth inside compartments on the dash, under the driver seat and under the front passenger seat.

The driver, Pedro Lopez, 28, was arrested and booked on charges of possession of methamphetamine for sale and transporting narcotics in a hidden compartment. His bail was set at $1 million.

Rye became field certified in narcotic detection in April and this was his first bust.

This wasn't the only instance this month of a dog sniffing out narcotics on a traffic stop on Interstate 10. Police in Fayette County, Texas, on May 10 seized $2.7 million in crystal meth with the help of K-9 unit Lobos during a routine traffic stop.

Lobos detected drugs inside a Nissan Murano which police had pulled over for a traffic violation, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Because of Lobos, a sheriff found 60 pounds inside the gas tank of the SUV. The driver, Felipe De Jesus Mendez Ramos, 29, was arrested and charged with felony drug possession.