An Ottumwa man is facing two felony charges after allegedly attempting to destroy a large quantity of methamphetamine during a traffic stop in Fairfield on Tuesday evening.
Isaiah Zenz, 27, has been charged with a Controlled Substance Violation, a Class B Felony; Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp, a Class D Felony; and Driving While Suspended, a simple misdemeanor.
Officers initiated a traffic stop at approximately 7:41 p.m. on July 7th after determining the registered owner of the vehicle was operating with a suspended driver’s license. During the stop, a Fairfield Police K-9 officer asked Zenz whether there were any narcotics in the vehicle. Zenz admitted there was a methamphetamine pipe inside the vehicle, according to the Fairfield Police Department press release.
Zenz then placed a plastic baggie containing approximately 6-7 grams of methamphetamine into his mouth and began chewing it, according to court documents. Officers removed Zenz from the vehicle and were able to get him to spit out the baggie and “recovered the majority of the narcotics,” according to the press release. Emergency Medical Services responded to the scene and Zenz was transported to a hospital for evaluation.
A subsequent search of the vehicle turned up an additional plastic baggie containing methamphetamine. Both baggies tested positive for methamphetamine and weighed a combined 8.9 grams without the required drug tax stamp affixed. Officers also found a bag labeled “For paying off debt in full Need 18,000, State Tax’s, Copper, Other Sale’s, Ebay Sale’s, 20% Pay and Drugs,” which contained a large quantity of U.S. currency. Additional currency was found elsewhere in the vehicle. In total, the currency recovered consisted of 117 one-dollar bills, 32 five-dollar bills, one two-dollar bill, 16 ten-dollar bills, and 12 twenty-dollar bills.
Zenz was transported to the Jefferson County Jail where he is being held on bond pending an initial appearance.
