Lack of license plates leads to drug arrest of Iowa woman

Hunter
02/23/20

Driving around with drugs in your car isn’t the best idea; it’s even worse when you’re driving with no license plates. A Keystone Iowa woman learned that lesson the hard way when she got herself arrested in North Liberty early Saturday morning.

Police say they observed 42-year-old Tara Garcia driving a Ford Ranger pickup near the intersection of West Penn Street and North Kansas Avenue just before 1:30am, and stopped her for not having any license plates, and for stopping in the travel portion of the roadway.

A K9 made an alert on the vehicle, and a probable cause search allegedly turned up a bag of methamphetamine and a used meth pipe containing residue. Garcia reportedly told officers at the scene that she was aware the drugs were in the truck.

Having had a 2013 drug conviction in Johnson County, Garcia was charged with 2nd offense drug possession, an aggravated misdemeanor punishable by a prison term of up to two years if convicted.