A California man was caught with about $245,000 worth of methamphetamine during a routine traffic stop, police said.

About 2:20 p.m. on Sunday, Will County deputies were on patrol on Interstate 80 and saw a Cadillac changing lanes without using a turn signal and crossing over the solid line onto the shoulder of the highway, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.

Deputies conducted a traffic stop and spoke with the driver, identified as Henry Duenas, 46, of Desert Hot Springs, police said.

Duenas was questioned at the scene and deputies searched his vehicle, police said.

“A plastic bin was observed inside the vehicle where eight packages containing methamphetamine was discovered,” police said.

The total weight of the packages was about 22 pounds, police said.

“The street value of the meth would be approximately $245,000,” police said.

Duenas was arrested and charged with possession of meth and meth delivery.

Will County Judge Brian Barrett set Duenas’ bond at $1 million and ordered him not to leave Illinois if he posts for his release, court records show.

The number of methamphetamine-related overdose deaths in the U.S. nearly tripled between 2015 and 2019, according to a Sept. 22 study from JAMA Psychiatry, a medical journal published by the American Medical Association.

During that period, overdose deaths involving psychoactive stimulants other than cocaine – largely methamphetamine – increased from 5,526 to 15,489, the study showed. Methamphetamine use increased by 43% during the same time.

In a statement from the National Institutes of Health, Nora Volkow, one of the study’s authors, said the overdose crisis in the U.S. “goes far beyond an opioid epidemic.”

“In addition to heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine are becoming more dangerous due to contamination with highly potent fentanyl, and increases in higher risk use patterns such as multiple substance use and regular use,” Volkow said.