Orem couple arrested during crash investigation has ties to cartel, police say

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OREM — An Orem couple arrested while police were investigating a crash that did not involve them are now facing criminal charges accusing them of involvement in a drug trafficking ring that attempted to utilize the U.S. Postal Service.

Justin Shea Wilkinson, 37, and Melinda Marie Bluford, 42, were both charged Friday in 4th District Court with two counts each of drug distribution, a first-degree felony for Wilkinson and a second-degree felony for Bluford.

On Aug. 15, Orem police were investigating a crash near 1100 West and 500 North in which a car ran into a power pole, knocking out power to nearby residents. While investigating the crash, officers were informed Wilkinson "was becoming increasingly aggressive" because he "was mad about his power being out" and "grew even more aggressive due to him being angry about the food he just purchased spoiling," according to a police booking affidavit.

When Bluford came out to try and get Wilkinson to go back into their home, he either pushed or slapped the woman, the affidavit states. Because of that, officers went over to the residence to conduct a welfare check.

"When the front door of the home opened, officers observed the strong odor of burnt marijuana emanating from the home," the affidavit alleges.

Due to the circumstances, police obtained a search warrant for the residence.

"In total, officers found an estimated 1 pound of THC dab, 20 pounds of THC vape pens, and several pounds of psilocybin mushrooms. Officers also found user amounts of raw marijuana and methamphetamine," the affidavit says.

In addition, a package scheduled to be delivered to his residence that day was intercepted by investigators and was found to contain 6 pounds of meth and 1,000 fentanyl pills, police said. That prompted a larger investigation by the Utah Major Crimes Task Force.

"During the investigation, Justin and Melinda were tied to a large-scale drug trafficking operation that has direct ties to the cartel," a second police booking affidavit filed after their arrests states. "The postal inspector reported that this package is the sixth or seventh package like this Justin and Melinda have received this year."

According to charging documents filed Friday, Wilkinson told police he and Bluford were involved "with drug trafficking that used the U.S. Postal Service," and that after receiving packages sent from other states he would deliver those packages for cash in Salt Lake County.

Police say the case will be screened for potential federal charges.

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Pat Reavy

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Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.