Meth, illegal harvest of mollusks and turtle found in traffic stop, California cops say

A police search of a vehicle pulled over in California turned up drugs, illegally harvested abalone and a pond turtle, California police reported.

A 46-year-old Santa Rosa man driving the vehicle was on searchable probation, Windsor police said in a Feb. 27 news release.

A 35-year-old Santa Rosa woman who was a passenger in the vehicle told police she had methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, the release said.

A search of the vehicle also found 35 live abalone and a pond turtle, police said.

“Red abalone is a large, edible sea snail native to California,” police said. “The harvesting of abalone has been a long-standing tradition for indigenous communities and recreational harvesters. Abalone are considered a delicacy and (have) long been a target of poachers.”

California banned the recreational harvest of abalone in 2017 “due to catastrophic environmental stressors” that depleted the population, police said.

“There is an extensive black market which pays poachers a premium for illegally taking the abalone,” police said.

Officers also found wet clothing and tools used to remove abalone from rocks in the vehicle, police said.

The driver told police he poached the abalone near the town of Elk in Mendocino County for personal consumption, officers said.

The abalone could not be returned to the ocean and were destroyed, police said. The turtle was returned to the wild.

The driver was arrested on charges of violating probation and possessing creatures unlawfully taken, police said. The passenger was charged with drug possession.

Windsor is about a 65-mile drive northwest from San Francisco.

This story was originally published March 3, 2025 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Meth, illegal harvest of mollusks and turtle found in traffic stop, California cops say."