A traffic stop on Interstate 5, near the Highway 140 Gustine turn-off led to the seizure of close to $700,000 in narcotics and cash and resulted in the arrest of a Seattle man, the California Highway Patrol reported.

On Dec. 23, a CHP conducted a traffic stop on a 2012 Toyota Camry after witnessing suspicious behavior by the driver, later identified as Adrian Martinez Ramirez, 38, of Seattle, Wash.

A search of the vehicle turned up a hidden compartment. Inside the compartment officers found cocaine and fentanyl, with a combined street value of $660,000, according to the CHP. They search also led to the discovery of $30,000 in cash.

Ramirez was taken into custody and booked into the Merced County Jail on charges of possession of cocaine for sale, transportation of cocaine, possession of fentanyl for sale, transportation of fentanyl, possession of currency derived from the sale of narcotics and the possession of a hidden compartment used to transport narcotics.

The case was turned over to the Merced Area Gang and Narcotic Enforcement Team. M.A.G.N.E.T. is composed of law enforcement personnel from the California Department of Justice, the California Highway Patrol, the Merced County Probation Department, the Merced County District Attorney Investigations Unit, and police departments in Atwater, Merced, Livingston, and Los Banos, as well as the Merced County Sheriff’s Department.

The stop came 10 days after the Los Banos are CHP made a traffic stop on Highway 152 near Santa Nella that led to the discovery of two kilograms of cocaine. In that case, the driver, whose name was not released, was traveling at an estimated 96 miles per hour in a BMW X5 on eastbound Highway 152.

A CHP officer made a traffic stop and found the driver did not have a valid license. The vehicle was impounded and turning an inventory search the cocaine was found, as well as a loaded semi-automatic handgun, an extra gun magazine and scales.