Two men arrested for trafficking heroin
A chance encounter led to the arrest of three men at a Pocatello business early Wednesday, two of them for trafficking heroin.
An alert Pocatello police officer was inside the Jacksons convenience store at 1107 S. 5th at around 12:22 a.m. to pick up an item. While there, he spotted Damien Edward Gunter, 25, who had outstanding warrants for his arrest. While the officer was making the arrest, Gunter attempted to run away.
After Gunter was taken into custody, a loaded firearm was located in his waistband. Police said the suspect was also carrying loaded syringes and a scale.
A second man, identified as Daniel Joseph Rodriguez, 22, was also arrested. A search of Rodriguez and the vehicle the two were riding in turned up 210 grams of black tar heroin, approximately one gram of brown heroin, and approximately three grams of methamphetamine.
Two other persons in the car left the scene when they saw the two men being arrested.
Gunter was charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, resisting and obstructing, trafficking of scheduled drugs, possession of a controlled substance and the prior arrest warrant.
Rodriguez was charged with trafficking scheduled drugs.
A third man, not connected in any way to the drug bust, was also arrested at the scene. Yazeed Saeed Alghamdi, who happened to be in the convenience store at the time, was taken into custody on an outstanding arrest warrant.
