Murrieta: Alleged drug trafficker nabbed during traffic stop

A Mexican national wanted for allegedly trafficking drugs in the United States was nabbed today by Murrieta police, who stopped him outside a shopping center.

Sergio Enrique Muniz Gaspar, 33, was booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta for an outstanding felony warrant alleging sales and distribution of illegal narcotics.

According to Murrieta police Sgt. Jay Froboese, around 1:20 a.m., officers patrolling the Madison Avenue business corridor noticed a four-door Lexus idling in the parking lot of a Kohl’s store that was closed and decided to investigate.

When the driver noticed the patrol unit, he drove out of the lot, Froboese said.

A check of the Lexus’ license plate indicated the sedan was registered to an address in Hemet, but the motorist headed in the opposite direction, further raising officers’ suspicions, according to the sergeant.

A traffic stop was conducted at Kalmia Street and Jefferson Avenue, and officers confirmed Gaspar’s identity through his Mexican driver’s license and U.S. border crossing Visa, at which point he was arrested for the warrant, Froboese said.

The suspect was booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, where he was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.