LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Police in Indianapolis say they've made a historic drug bust after they stopped and arrested a truck driver hauling nearly 300 pounds of cocaine through central Indiana.
According to a report by FOX 59, officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department investigators received a tip that a large amount of narcotics would be transported through Marion County, Indiana, on Nov. 30. The tip indicated that the drugs would be in a red semi truck with a white trailer and Texas plates, according to court documents.
Police say they found the truck at a rest stop on I-71, near mile marker 64 in Hendricks County.
According to the FOX 59 report, a police K9 indicated that there were drugs in the truck. After getting a search warrant, police searched the truck and allegedly found about 130 kilos (about 286 pounds) of cocaine. That cocaine had an estimated street value of $13 million, according to police.
Police arrested the driver, 50-year-old Mauro Alonzo-Vargas, of Ennis, Texas. According to FOX 59, he told police he pulled over at the rest stop before he planned to make a legitimate delivery in Plainfield, Indiana.
Court documents indicate that Alonzo-Vargas admitted to being the owner of the truck, but claimed to know nothing of the drugs.
Police say the drugs were found in a false ceiling attached to ropes. It's not clear where the drugs were going to be distributed.
"We call it dope on a rope," said IMPD Sgt. Paul McDonald. "That's what this was. They had dope on a rope. We are fighting a war on drugs one kilo at a time. This one was a major seizure. Thank goodness we got this off the roads, and it will impact a lot of people in a lot of ways."
"This is the largest seizure I've seen since I've been doing this work," he added. "We've had some significant seizures, but this is the largest."
McDonald has been with IMPD's drug interdiction unit for 22 years.
The Drug Enforcement Administration was contacted to assist, because of the seizure's size.
"We were talking in the office," said Mike Gannon, DEA assistant special agent in charge. "We don't remember any seizure of this magnitude."
"When you're talking about 130 kilos of cocaine, that's a significant seizure no matter where you are," said Gannon. "You know how many drug suppliers could be moving that on the streets in all different communities?"
Alonzo-Vargas was booked into the Hendricks County Jail and a cash bond of $20,000 was set. He's scheduled to appear in court on a charge of dealing in cocaine (in the amount of 10 or more grams) in the area of manufacture, delivery or finance.
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