More than 2 pounds of meth seized following traffic stop. Two people arrested

More than two pounds of suspected methamphetamine were seized Wednesday following a traffic stop in Merced, the police department reported.

Officers stopped a car occupied by 48-year-old Osiel Pahua Tapia and 36-year-old Salvador Castillo about 3 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Buena Vista Drive and Highway 59, according to a news release.

Both men consented to allow police to search the car, according to police, and Castillo was found to have 20 grams of packaged methamphetamine. Then officers found a pound of packed meth in the car.

The officers with the Merced Police Department’s Gang Violence Suppression Unit searched the home of Pahua Tapia and found another pound of meth, police said.

Pahua Tapia was arrested on suspicion of possession and sales of methamphetamine, according to police, while Salvador was cited and released on suspicion of possession of methamphetamine.

Merced police ask anyone with any information regarding this incident to contact Gang Violence Suppression Unit Sgt. Brian Rodriguez at 209-385-4710 or GVSU@cityofmerced.org or the Merced Police Department Tipster Line at 209-385-4725. The public can send information via anonymous text messages to police department by dialing “TIP411” (847411) and including the word “Comvip” as the “keyword” in the text message.