A routine traffic stop on Interstate 80 by the Douglas County Sheriff's Department Interdiction Team yielded an expensive stash of crystal methamphetamine and cocaine, found in a compartment where most of us would never think to look.

When Deputy Kris Peterson pulled a new rental car over for a traffic violation, something didn't smell right inside. “The smell of gas.”

The vehicle was towed to the sheriffs office, the car's back seat was removed and the gas tank sending unit pulled. Deputy Peterson then reached into a floating stash of crystal meth and cocaine.

“It’s an easy way, they can rent a vehicle, pop the sending unit, drop dope in the gas tank,” said Sgt. Ed Van Buren.

Heat-sealed after being wrapped four times over were a half-dozen Pringles potato chip containers, but this was no snack. Crystal meth in chunks that clearly shows why it's nicknamed "ice."

The probe found five sealed bricks of cocaine, some marked with what seemed to be a drug mules tracking code. “Vacuum and heat-sealed and when in the gas tank they'll use several layers like you see here to conceal the odor, but keep the gasoline out,” said Sgt. Van Buren.

It's a high-octane drug seizure with the street value of the crystal meth estimated at $150,000 and the cocaine bricks at about $80,000.

The man and woman arrested weren't talking, but as the 11 packages of dope were pulled from the gas tank, their cell phone rang and went to voice-mail. Deputies didn’t want the caller to know what happened to the car that traveled from California with a full gas tank.

The driver and passenger from the Los Angeles area have been charged with two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.