Tennessee authorities recently seized millions of dollars worth of cocaine from a tractor trailer initially pulled over for a traffic violation.
The drug seizure took place late in the evening on April 15 on I-40 in Haywood County, Tennessee, according to the West Tennessee Drug Task Force.
Agents with the Criminal Interdiction Unit stopped a semi truck along I-40 for a traffic violation.
During the traffic stop, “agents observed abnormalities in the tractor trailer” and deployed a canine unit to the scene.
The dog alerted to the presence of drugs, and a four hour search of the vehicle eventually resulted in the discovery of “two aftermarket compartments near the refrigeration unit of the trailer.”
“Agents forced open the compartments and discovered 90 wrapped kilos of cocaine weighing approximately 200 pounds. The drugs are valued at approximately $2,250,000.00 wholesale with a street value estimated at nearly $9,000,000.00,” officials said.
“Our Interstate Interdiction Agents are the best in the country and this stop is just another example of the professional work they do every day. We will continue to disrupt foreign and domestic organized crime along Interstate 40 in Haywood and Shelby counties. This was great work by our team,” said District Attorney General Frederick H. Agee
“Our highly skilled, professional Task Force continues with record-breaking yields of trafficked drugs,” said DA Mulroy. “We’ll continue to disrupt these out-of-state trafficking organizations, with the cooperation of local law enforcement.”
“My Agents are among the best out there at what they do and I commend them for another job very well done,” said Task Force Director Johnie Carter. “This is the second record breaking drug bust for us in less than a month with similar circumstances where the drivers were innocent citizens being paid to unsuspectingly haul someone else’s contraband. This 200 pounds of cocaine was labeled with a heart and a capital T and was destined for Nashville. I’m assuming they aren’t hearting Tennessee law enforcement right now.”
The The West Tennessee Violent Crime and Drug Task Force is made up of full time employees and officers assigned from the Haywood and Dyer County Sheriff’s Offices and the Memphis and Germantown Police Departments.
