Canadian County, OK, sheriffs recently arrested two Arizona men after discovering 15 pounds of cocaine and 1.2 pounds of black-tar heroin in the trunk of their vehicle.
According to NewsOn6.com, a sheriff’s deputy stopped the car’s driver, Rafael Luna of Glendale, after observing him driving erratically on Interstate 40. Luna, 56, is a fourth grade school teacher.
Luna and his passenger, Jose A. Lopez, 50, of Phoenix, told deputies they were traveling to Missouri for Luna’s son’s U.S. Army training graduation. However, officers noticed inconsistencies in the two men’s stories, leading them to suspect criminal activity.
Officers brought Drug Detector K9 “Pickles” to the scene to sniff around the vehicle. The canine alerted the deputies to the presence of narcotics in the trunk of the silver 2000 Mercedes Benz. Deputies immediately took the two suspects into custody, and the two men remain in custody with $205,000 bonds.
“I’m certain the drugs with a street value in excess of one million dollars originated in Mexico and were intended for sale on the streets of New York City,” Canadian County Sheriff Randall Edwards said.
Drug law violations are one of the most common offenses for which people are arrested in the U.S. In 2013, 1,501,043 drug-related arrests were made out of all offenses nationwide.
Luna and Lopez’s arrests aren’t the only recent drug bust to have taken place. Throughout Arizona, Department of Public Safety troopers have been conducting a statewide crime sweep to uncover drugs along the state’s major drug corridors.
In a two-day operation on Interstate 40 and Interstate 17, troopers, along with 16 drug-sniffing canines, seized 43 pounds of high-grade marijuana, 154 grams of THC wax, three kilos of cocaine, four handguns and two cars, AZFamily.com reported on August 20.
During that bust, troopers also found almost $9,540. The drugs and other items were all headed toward other states across the country.
“Interstate 40 and 17 are often used as major drug corridors to move drugs throughout the United States,” the Department of Public Safety’s statement said. “That fact was evident in these seizures because all of the seized items were destined for other states throughout the country.”