Navajo County sheriff’s deputies seized about 72,000 suspected fentanyl pills Monday during a traffic stop east of Holbrook on Interstate 40. Both drivers and passengers were asked to exit their vehicles during the stoppage, authorities said. As they did so, fellow passenger Rafael Kiwi Andrade, 29, ran to the driver’s side and drove off, leaving Iracema Ramirez, 37, on the side of the highway. A lieutenant followed him on his way eastward. When officers overtook the car three miles from the stop, they found the car abandoned. A search of the surrounding area found Rafael behind some rocks. Back at the scene of the traffic stop, the deputy brought the K9 “Kilo” and smelled the car’s free air. The dog warned of the presence of drugs. A delegate found his bag in a duffel containing pills worth about $1.5 million. His two suspects, both from Phoenix, drug charges and illegal escape from law enforcement landed him in the Navajo County Jail on a $1.5 million cash-only bond.
