Opinion ID: 173282
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The May Drug Sale and the Suspected Stash House

Text: In May 2007, as part of an investigation of drug-related activity in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a special investigator from the Tulsa Police Department observed Cardinas sell a package containing methamphetamine and cocaine to a confidential informant. After Cardinas left the site of the drug sale in his Ford Explorer, another Tulsa police officer stopped him for speeding. The officer used a drug-sniffing dog to search Cardinas's car, but found nothing and let Cardinas go with a ticket for driving without a license. Because the investigation was ongoing, the special investigator decided not to pursue charges against Cardinas for the drug sale and instead had the drugs destroyed. Cardinas remained a target. He frequently visited a suspected stash housea location where a drug dealer stores his drugsthat was under surveillance by the Tulsa police. The particular stash house was an apartment rented by Cardinas's friend Isaias Gonzales. During Cardinas's visits, he would repeatedly exit Gonzales's apartment, meet various people in the parking lot, then return to the apartment. This regular pattern of behavior suggested to the investigator that Cardinas was dealing drugs.