Police Arrest Man in Salem Carrying Five Pounds of Crystal Meth in a Cardboard Box

The driver of the car escaped police.

Investigators say this is five pounds of Crystal Meth Photo: Salem Police

(SALEM) - A man was arrested Thursday morning when he ran from a vehicle during a traffic stop in Salem carrying a box that police say contained approximately 5 pounds of crystal methamphetamine.

The driver fled in the vehicle that was found abandoned a few blocks from the original stop location.

It began Thursday at approximately 10:45 AM, an Oregon State Police trooper attempted to stop a 1995 Nissan Quest van on Hawthorne Street south of Center Street for a traffic violation.

The trooper says the van failed to stop, made a couple turns in a residential neighborhood and finally stopped west of Hawthorne Street.

That's when he says a male passenger got out and ran away carrying a cardboard box. When the trooper told the fleeing passenger to stop, the man complied and set the box down, but the driver fled in the van which was later found abandoned about three blocks away.

Investigators say the cardboard box contained approximately 5 pounds of crystal methamphetamine.

The passenger has been tentatively identified as a 32-year old Hispanic male with a Salem address. Further identifying information will not be released pending positive identification and further investigation.

The man was lodged in Marion County Jail for Possession and Delivery of a Controlled Substance – Methamphetamine.