Police confiscate 160 pounds of cocaine during a traffic stop on Interstate-44 in Phelps County.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Raul Perez Rodas
Alayssa Melo
Rafael Herminio Molina-Vazquez
The vehicle compartment where some of the 160 pounds of cocaine was found.
According to the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department, three people were arrested Sunday after a traffic stop landed 130 pounds of cocaine in police custody.
Around 6:30 p.m. Sunday, the Phelps County Sheriff’s Department said a Peterbuilt tractor trailer was stopped for a traffic violation.
During the course of the traffic stop, deputies became suspicious because of conflicting information and called in a K-9 trained in the detection of illegal narcotics. When the K-9 alerted on the tractor portion of the vehicle a search was conducted and 130 pounds of cocaine were found hidden in different locations of the vehicle.
The driver Raul Perez Rodas, 45, of Desert Hot Springs, Calif. and two passengers Rafael Herminio Molina-Vazquez, 30, of Philadelphia, Pa. and Alayssa Melo, 22, of New York City, N.Y. were all arrested and turned over to the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Investigators said the cocaine has a street value of $1.6 million.
Comments
etblues (anonymous) says...
Really...these people were pulled over in Phelps County because they were Hispanic.
The column states that the police became suspicious because of conflicting information. I wonder what that was. I was driving I-44 yesterday as well. The police were out in force attempting to raise as much revenue as possible on the last day of the month.
Conflicting info...so they called in a drug sniffing dog. This is hilarious.
If you have California, Arizona, New Mexico license plates on your car....beware driving through Phelps County.
et
March 1, 2010 at 3:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tripleplayer (anonymous) says...
If you aren't white and you travel through phelps county beware! If you are black, hispanic, or a mixed couple try to bypass rolla. The powers that be will harass you.A bunch of racist keystone cops!!!
March 2, 2010 at 8:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tmmy99 (anonymous) says...
A bunch of minority's breaking the law
Job well done Phelps County Sheriff’s Department.
Yes for Racial Profiling !!!
Yes for waterboarding!!!
March 2, 2010 at 4:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Jen123 (anonymous) says...
@ tmmy....A Bunch of Minorities breaking the law???? Ur an Ignorant racist..!!! If u want to bring it to that than ur race should clearly be arreested of all the hatred caused throughout decades... see thats y our world will never be a better place because of ignorant believers like yourself.... Yes I do agree the law has been broken and someone is being held responsible for their actions but what does categorizing it helps the situation,,, Dont u all understand the world has become a place of pointing fingers looking for whom to blame. Instead of this we should all come together and look for solutions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 14, 2010 at 12:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )