Baton Rouge – Authorities seized a little over 108 pounds of powder cocaine during a traffic stop on LA Highway 28 East of Pineville. Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tommy Carnline says deputies assigned to the RADE Unit Highway Interdiction Team conducted a traffic stop on a semi-tractor trailer truck for improper lane usage.
“They stopped the vehicle and through their subsequent investigation they felt like there may be some criminal activity.”
Deputies deployed their police canine ‘Izzy’ to do an air sniff of the tractor-trailer driven by 56-year-old Jose Calderon of Edinburg, Texas. During the investigation, they observed a positive alert of possible narcotics. Deputies located over 108 pounds of powder cocaine in the commercial rig hauling 45,000 pounds of mangoes.
“This is probably the largest cocaine seizure that the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office has ever been a part of.”
Calderon was arrested and remains in the Rapides Parish Detention Center on a $500,000 bond. Carnline says the RADE agents along with agents from the local field office of the FB and the Drug Enforcement Administration were helpful in the investigation.
“This is a great job by these Highway Interdiction guys interdicting this type of load of cocaine.”
Calderon is charged with improper lane usage, obstruction of drivers view windshield, and possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Agents estimate the street value of the recovered cocaine is between $1-$3 million dollars.
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