A traffic stop in Texas that resulted in criminal charges against a man accused of trafficking in crystal methamphetamine in Bowling Green should not be allowed into evidence, according to the man’s attorney.

Eduardo Rojas Clark is charged in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Kentucky with conspiring to possess more than 500 grams of meth with the intent to distribute. He has pleaded not guilty.

Clark’s court-appointed attorney, Don Meier, filed a motion Thursday requesting a suppression hearing, arguing that the May 23 traffic stop and subsequent search of the vehicle Clark was driving violated his rights.

According to a criminal complaint, a Texas Department of Public Safety officer stopped Clark’s vehicle in Amarillo, with the officer finding close to 5 pounds of suspected crystal meth concealed within the vehicle.

“Clark told DPS officers he was delivering the vehicle to an unknown person named ‘Jose’ in Bowling Green,” FBI Special Agent Richard Glenn stated in a criminal complaint. “He further stated he was instructed to drive the car from California to Bowling Green and exchange it for a different vehicle containing money. Clark said he was supposed to drive the second vehicle from Kentucky back to California.”

FBI agents and Texas law enforcement drove the vehicle and Clark to Kentucky, meeting with officers from the Kentucky State Police and the Bowling Green-Warren County Drug Task Force, where a plan was developed to carry out the delivery of the suspected drugs under law enforcement supervision, according to the complaint.

After checking into a Bowling Green hotel, Clark received a call from his contact in California on May 24, who told him that a woman would arrive at the hotel and park next to his vehicle, taking possession of the vehicle and the drugs while Clark would take possession of the vehicle the woman drove to the hotel, court records show.

The transaction took place under law enforcement surveillance, and police later obtained search warrants for both vehicles as well as an apartment on Cave Springs Road.

In his motion, Meier argued that the officer in Texas who made the traffic stop advised Clark that he would be issued a traffic warning, only to detain Clark and question him “extensively about issues beyond the scope of the minor traffic infraction for which he was given a warning.”

Clark reportedly consented to having officers search the vehicle, but Meier argued that there was no legitimate concern for officer safety to justify a search of the vehicle and questioned whether Clark was able to freely give consent under the circumstances.

“The entire conversation between law enforcement officers and Mr. Clark was in English,” Meier wrote. “Mr. Clark’s native language is Spanish, and while he can speak basic English, he is not fluent.”

The charge against Clark carries a penalty range of 10 years to life in prison.

— Follow courts reporter Justin Story on Twitter @jstorydailynews or visit bgdailynews.com.