MUSKOGEE – A Californian who was on the lam from a drug conviction in the Golden State was in possession of 49 pounds of methamphetamine when he was arrested in eastern Oklahoma while attempting to evade a traffic stop.
Marco Antonio Naranjo-Aguilar, 30, from Sacramento, pleaded guilty last year in the Eastern District federal court here to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and was sentenced to 19.5 years in federal prison.
The charge arose from an investigation by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
An OHP trooper reported an SUV bearing a New York license plate was speeding through a construction zone on Interstate 40 a short distance west of Sallisaw in Sequoyah County the morning of Jan. 20, 2022. When the trooper attempted to stop the driver, the eastbound vehicle sped up to 115 miles per hour, the officer said.
The Roland Police Department was alerted and one of its officers deployed “stop sticks” – tire deflation devices equipped with myriad spikes – on the highway. The SUV ran over the devices and its speed began to decline. The trooper said that after “several more miles” he “performed a tactical vehicle intervention” that forced the SUV into a ditch, where Naranjo-Aguilar was arrested.
In the SUV was found a suitcase containing 48 zip-style plastic baggies and two vacuum- seal baggies which contained 22.3 kilograms of methamphetamine.
Besides imposing the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White ordered Naranjo-Aguilar to forfeit $3,085 in U.S. currency that had been in his possession when he was detained.
At his sentencing, prosecutors noted that Naranjo-Aguilar has “a history of attempting to elude” law enforcement officers and “has committed several narcotics- related offenses over his life.”
In fact, Naranjo pleaded guilty in 2013 in a California federal court to possession of 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and was sentenced to prison. On appeal his sentence was modified in 2016 to 12 years, and he was released on probation approximately four years later.
The U.S. Probation Office received a call on Oct. 26, 2020, from the California Highway Patrol, advising that a rental vehicle registered to Marco Antonio Naranjo had been involved in a fatal vehicle collision two days before.
CHP investigators reported Naranjo was the driver, and his girlfriend was the passenger, of a car that collided head-on with another vehicle. After the collision, Naranjo abandoned his girlfriend in the burning car, entered a vehicle that was following him, and left the scene.
The girlfriend suffered serious injuries, requiring medical surgery procedures. One passenger in the oncoming vehicle died and others were in critical condition.
Based on information provided by California Highway Patrol investigators, U.S. probation officers and CHP investigators drove to Naranjo’s residence to talk to him and to conduct a probation search. However, Naranjo’s mother told the officers she last saw her son on Oct. 24, 2020, and he had not returned to the residence since.
Subsequently the probation officer attempted to reach Naranjo on his cell phone but the call went directly to voicemail. A voice message was left for Naranjo with instructions to contact the probation officer.
Naranjo did not report as instructed, further attempts to reach him were unsuccessful, and an arrest warrant was issued on Oct. 30, 2020.
His whereabouts remained unknown until Jan. 31, 2022, when the probation officer was notified that Marco Antonio Naranjo-Aguilar had been arrested in eastern Oklahoma.