GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County man is facing drug trafficking and DUI charges after police say he drove erratically past their precinct while officers were already searching for him for drug allegations.
Santiago Ortega, 45, was arrested Thursday after a supervisor at the Bay Creek precinct spotted him driving by and pulled him over, according to Gwinnett County Police.
“The vehicle had gone off the road in some manner,” said Cpl. Ryan Winderweedle.
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Officers say Ortega was swerving badly at Ozora and Camp Mitchell roads near Loganville, and also at New Hope and Grayson-New Hope roads around 9:30 p.m. Police suspected he was driving under the influence.
But the traffic stop was tied to something bigger.
Minutes earlier, officers had responded to a domestic call at a home on Tribble Walk Drive near Lawrenceville. While investigating, they found suspected drugs and had been looking for Ortega, police said.
The substances field tested positive for fentanyl. By the end of the day, police had seized nearly 800 fentanyl pills.
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“Fentanyl is obviously very dangerous,” Winderweedle said. “The department takes it very seriously in combating it.”
Ortega now faces multiple charges, including drug trafficking and DUI after his arrest.
Police say the traffic stop may have saved lives twice over by getting fentanyl off the streets and stopping a driver they describe as dangerous.
“I don’t want him continuing down the road and running into anybody or causing any further injuries or damage,” Winderweedle said.
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