Basalt police bust man on suspicion of selling cocaine

Basalt police arrested a man outside of a local tavern early Saturday morning on suspicion of possession and distribution of cocaine.

Alexander Antonio Quijada-Rivas, 26, was taken into custody shortly after 2 a.m. after authorities found a bag containing cocaine and a weighing scale underneath the seat of the driver’s seat of his car, said an arrest-warrant affidavit from Basalt police. The warrant was made public Tuesday in Pitkin County District Court.

Quijada-Rivas consented to a police officer’s request to search his car after they found him and two passengers in a 2013 Ford Fusion, which was parked in front of Stubbies Sports Bar & Eatery.

Quijada-Rivas told police he was too drunk to drive and said he had not been using drugs, the affidavit says.

He also told police he did not have identification, but the search also yielded his ID card as well as $629 in cash in the car’s console. When he was booked at Pitkin County Jail, authorities found another $685.22 on his person, the affidavit said.

The warrant did not specify the quantity of cocaine in the bag.

Quijada-Rivas faces pending charges of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a level 4 felony; and unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing or sale of cocaine, a level 2 felony.

The suspect currently is out on $12,500 bond, and his first court appearance is set for Nov. 5, a court clerk said.