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Deputies find 16 pounds of meth during traffic stop

GASTONIA, N.C. — Gastonia police said they seized more than 16 pounds of crystal meth from a car during a traffic stop Saturday afternoon. Officers said they believe it's the biggest bust in county history.

"It's worth over $1million dollars, when you get to the street level value of it," said Sgt. Rodney Aldridge with the Gastonia Police Department.

Police said they pulled over an out-of-state car on Interstate 85 Saturday afternoon for what they're calling a "routine traffic violation." A police dog smelled drugs, so police searched the car.

"You don't see that quantity of crystal meth in North Carolina," said Aldridge. "We don't run across that. I've never seen that quantity before.

"Never?" asked Eyewitness News.

"Never. Not in my career," he replied. "And I've been doing this going on 12 years now.”

Police arrested Juan Cisneros of Rockwall County, TX and Arturo Tamayo of Mexico on felony drug trafficking charges.

Police said crystal meth is a uniquely dangerous narcotic.

"This drug affects people, it makes people violent, and people become extremely agitated. This drug destroys a lot of families. We took a lot of this drug off the street tonight," Aldridge said.

Detectives are still investigating where all those drugs were headed.