A New Mexico man and an Odessa woman were arrested on drug charges Monday thanks to a tip.
According to an Odessa Police Department report, officers received information last month that Gaby Leon Lucero of Portales, New Mexico was distributing methamphetamine throughout Odessa.
On Monday, detectives saw Lucero and Valerie Cortez arrive at a motel on John Ben Sheppherd Parkway Boulevard and detained them. According to the report, they found 0.8 grams of methamphetamine in Cortez’s purse and 280.5 grams or 0.6 pounds of meth in Lucero’s truck along with a digital scale.
Lucero was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing/delivery of a controlled substance, a first-degree felony punishable by five years to life in prison. He has since been released from the Ector County jail to the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Service.
Cortez was arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, a state jail felony. Cortez remains in the jail on a $3,000 surety bond in that case and a $10,000 surety bond in a Midland theft case.
