Man faces drug, gun charges

MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake man is facing charges after meth was found in his vehicle and a loaded revolver was found in his pocket during a traffic stop in Moses Lake.

Grant County prosecutors charged Randall Gonzalez, 45, of Moses Lake, with possession of methamphetamine with intent to manufacture/deliver and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

In a joint operation, Grant County’s Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (INET) and the Mid-Columbia Interagency Narcotics Task Force (MINT) made a number of undercover drug buys from Gonzalez over the past couple of weeks, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office previously stated.

Gonzalez was pulled over in his vehicle on state Route 17, just north of Kittleson Road, late Friday night and taken into custody. He was patted down for weapons and authorities reportedly located a loaded revolver in one of his pockets, according to court documents.

Gonzalez was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm, due to a previous conviction for unlawful imprisonment in 2006, and his truck was transported to the INET impound yard. Gonzalez’s wife, who was in the vehicle when it was pulled over in Moses Lake, cooperated with detectives and provided a written a statement in which she admitted there was a large quantity of meth in a coffee cup in her purse.

Four separate plastic baggies containing a white substance, which tested positive as meth, were located in the coffee cup. The meth weighed in at 114.3 grams, a quantity which police records indicate “is beyond what one would obtain for personal use.”

In the statement Gonzalez’s wife gave to police she states they left Moses Lake early Friday morning, stopping off in Othello for less than an hour and ultimately driving to The Dalles, Ore. to obtain meth. She said they stopped off in a parking lot in The Dalles and Gonzalez got out of the truck and met with another male in a vehicle. Gonzalez reportedly returned to his truck with the other male and the male “put a coffee cup in the backseat.”

“During the trip home Randall asked me if there was anything in the coffee cup. I opened the cup and saw and felt something wrapped in toilet paper,” reads the woman’s statement.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.