LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Thirty kilograms of cocaine and one kilogram of fentanyl intercepted earlier this month were set to be distributed around Louisville and eastern Kentucky, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration said in a news release Thursday.
Louisville DEA agents, working with the Jeffersontown Police Department recovered the drugs July 10, but officials didn't say where it occurred.
"This investigation illustrates the dangers that cities like Louisville are facing today," said J. Todd Scott, special agent in charge of the DEA's Louisville Division. "That one brick of fentanyl that we seized is enough to kill about a half million people ... nearly half of our city."
Two Texas men were arrested in connection to the seizure. Roberto Soto-Mora and Hector Manuel Soto-Alvarez are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
According to a criminal indictment, law enforcement officials identified a white Ford truck registered to Soto-Mora, of McAllen, Texas, as a "suspected courier vehicle associated with a drug trafficking organization." Pinging both men's cellphones, police tracked down the truck on Interstate 64 near Lexington. Then on July 10, police said the two men arrived at a Holiday Inn near the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport.
DEA agents approached the men, searched the truck and arrested them.Â
This seizure is part of a multi-year effort between the DEA, Jeffersontown Police, the Louisville Metro Police Department and other state and local agencies. Together, the DEA said they've seized:
- 89.063 kilograms of cocaine
- 156 grams of crack cocaine
- 42 grams of heroin
- 1.159 kilograms of fentanyl
- Three vehicles
- More than $2.4 million dollars in cash
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