Defendant appears in Kimball County Court following seizure of large amount of marijuana, cash

KIMBALL -- A man accused of possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute appeared in Kimball County Court Tuesday morning. 

Twenty-one-year-old Mauel Flores of Massachusetts waived his right to a preliminary hearing, bounding the case over to District Court where he will be arraigned Jan. 6. 

Flores is facing three felony charges including possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, no drug tax stamp, and possession of marijuana of more than a pound, as well as Class 3 Misdemeanor willful reckless driving. 

According to court documents, on Oct. 9, a Kimball County Sheriff’s Deputy conducted a traffic stop for violation of the posted speed limit. 

“I initiated my emergency light to attempt a traffic stop, and the vehicle came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the interstate roadway completely blocking the lane, and I had to order the subject to the side of the road,” the affidavit stated. 

According to the deputy, Mauel stated that he was traveling from California to Massachusetts. 

“Due to his behavior and a slight odor of marijuana coming from the inside of the vehicle, I asked the Kimball Police Department K-9 to come to the scene and perform a sniff of the vehicle,” the affidavit stated. 

The Sergeant and his K-9 Lucy performed a sniff of the vehicle, and Lucy quickly indicated on the vehicle, leading to a search of the vehicle.

“Upon opening the trunk of the vehicle, two large black trash bags were located in the trunk, and a very strong odor of marijuana was emitting from the trunk,” the affidavit stated. “Upon opening the bags, several clear bags of a green leafy substance suspected to be marijuana were inside of the plastic black bags. Also located in the trunk was a square black nylon cooler. Inside the cooler was a large amount of U.S. currency in denominations of 100’s, 20’s, and 5’s. Most of the currency was banded in bundles.” 

Kimball authorities seized marijuana weighing 20 pounds and cash in the amount of $44,462. 

Flores is currently out on bond. All subjects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.