Cocaine is stacked after a traffic stop turned into a drug bust of 500 pounds of the drug in Franklin County.
A traffic stop by a Franklin County Sheriff's deputy Wednesday led to the seizure of 500 pounds of cocaine found stashed in a hidden compartment aboard a box van.
The cocaine, estimated by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration as having a street value of $5 million, is the county's largest drug seizure ever, Sheriff's Lt. Jimmie Dean said in Thursday's announcement.
"This is our biggest. That's a lot of cocaine," he said.
Two men were arrested, and charges were expected to be filed today, County Attorney Heather Jones said.
The sheriff's deputy stopped the van because it exceeded legal size limits as it was traveling north on Interstate 35 about 6 miles north of Ottawa. The officer, accompanied by a drug search dog, received permission from the occupants to search the van.
Because of bad weather, the van was taken to a building near Ottawa to conduct the search. The hidden compartment was found toward the front of the van's storage area, Dean said.
"The dog did an alert to an area there. We were able to determine that there was a false compartment, and we were able to get access to it," Dean said.
The compartment was made to be opened by a remote control device, Dean said.
The two suspects were taken to Franklin County Jail on suspicion of distribution of cocaine and not having a drug tax stamp.
The suspects were a 23-year-old from Richfield, Minn., and a 27-year-old man from Mexico. The van they were driving had wording on the side indicating it belonged to a furniture upholstery repair and restoration firm.
"They claimed to be a business," Dean said.
Assisting Franklin County were the Drug Enforcement Administration, officers from Osage and Lyon counties and the Kansas Highway Patrol.
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kneejerkreaction (anonymous) says…
I wonder what the comment about the van "exceeded legal size limits" means. Did they alter the van to store 500 lbs of cocaine? Weld the rear end of another van to the end of their van?
Confrontation (anonymous) says…
There's no way a Mexican could be involved. All immigrants are cuddly, fuzzy bunnies. They can't do any harm.
75x55 (anonymous) says…
"The sheriff's deputy stopped the van because it exceeded legal size limits as it was traveling north on Interstate 35 about 6 miles north of Ottawa."
kjr - this is code for 'we got tipped off about this vehicle' and this was the excuse we used to pull it over, while oddly enough having a drugsniffing dog handy.
Kontum1972 (anonymous) says…
funny how puppy was on board that particular day....
they didnt say anything about any firearms...so "confrontation" whats your beef with mexicans?
what if it would of been an afro-american?
you didnt say anything about the white guy....just the mex!
The_Original_Bob (anonymous) says…
"The officer, accompanied by a drug search dog, received permission from the occupants to search the van."
This amazes me everytime it happens. You'd think that if you are hauling 500 pounds of white heaven that you'd know your basic rights. Idiots are going to get what they deserve.
75x55 is right on.
Andini (anonymous) says…
Say hello to my little friends.
b_asinbeer (anonymous) says…
Kontum1972...
He didn't mention the other guy because, according to Confrontation, Americans can do no wrong...and immigrants can, and it's a Mexican in this case. This makes Confrontation a racist. Simple as that.
75x55 (anonymous) says…
"The cops can get a search warrant for a vehicle without so much as blinking an eye, and they can detain a traveler until they get that search warrant."
Probably had one in hand if it was needed.
The_Original_Bob (anonymous) says…
Logic - True. Very true. But, at least they'd be giving themselves a slim chance. That being said, I agree with 75x55 that the cops were suspicious of this van prior to being pulled over. Might not have mattered had they refused consent in this case, but you gotta try it.
Look at me. I sound like a drug mule.
kneejerkreaction (anonymous) says…
75x55 (Anonymous) says:
kjr - this is code for 'we got tipped off about this vehicle' and this was the excuse we used to pull it over, while oddly enough having a drugsniffing dog handy.
*******
ahhhhhh..of course. I had imagined some alteration to the van. Yes, the drug sniffing dog is probably not standard issue for Franklin County officers.
Bubbles (anonymous) says…
I hate Mexicans.
I hate the French too.
Throw the Canadians in there also.
I like Japaneese and Russians though.
pimp11 (anonymous) says…
little story for you guys... When I was 16 or so, a buddy and I were in East Lawrence area, where I suppose there have been drug deals. Well, we were pulled over around midnight and had been drinking a little. Well we had a cooler in our truck full of booze, and the officer asked if they could search the car. At first we were like, WTF, granted we were 16 and out at midnight, we were still hesitant to let them search. The cops talked to us each indiviually and our stories didnt match up. I think they were looking for drugs on us. Finally we told them that we had a cooler of beer in the trunk, after being threatened with having them bring the dogs out to sniff our car. Well, the cop said, I dont give a sh*t about the cooler of booze, we're looking for drugs.....So we said, well sh*t search away, we dont have any. Then they let us go on our way.
This was pretty funny seeing how we were both 16 and had a cooler of booze, which resulted in us driving away!!
Well, that was my 2 cents for the day, sorry for the boring story!!! LOL
Have good one!
kneejerkreaction (anonymous) says…
Mexicans are ok.
Parisians hate everyone, even other Frenchman.
Canadians have complexes about getting mistaken for North Americans.
WWII vets don't like the Japanese, but they're ok.
Russians......I don't really have any thoughts about the Russians.
kneejerkreaction (anonymous) says…
pimp11 (Anonymous) says:
little story for you guys: When I was 16 or so, a buddy and I were in East Lawrence area, where I suppose there have been drug deals.
*******
Lord knows that a drug was never dealt West of Mass. St. WTF?
smitty (anonymous) says…
pimp11, you have just explained why the under age drinkers are so prevelant in Lawrence by the lack of action that is the responsibility of law enforcement. Bit yet the law crys a river for the problems that exist and always want mo' money to do what they have authority to do in the first place.
Haiku_Cuckoo (anonymous) says…
Canadians have complexes about getting mistaken for North Americans.
===========
Why would that be? Canadians ARE North Americans.
kneejerkreaction (anonymous) says…
touche' Haiku. I obviously meant United States of Americans. lol
whatupdown (anonymous) says…
Bottom line; I'd like to read ten stories like this a day. Good work lawmen, now find the waiting money in MN befor they replace the shipment.
ralphralph (anonymous) says…
There is no entrance exam for the mule business.
Haiku_Cuckoo (anonymous) says…
Idiots!! Never consent to a search of your vehicle!
==========
Anyone driving around with 500 lbs of "the devil's dandruff" in their car probably isn't very smart to begin with.
acg (anonymous) says…
Not only does it also surprise me that people consent to have their vehicles searched when they know they have a lot of drugs, but I just love it when some idiot is stopped for something stupid like speeding, having a tail light out or not signaling to turn when they have a bunch of drugs. It also amazes me when I see on cops these morons trucking around with pounds of weed hidden in their cars and then they get pulled over for something stupid (like mentioned above) and the cop can smell it because they were just smoking it. WTF? You're not smart enough to drop off the 100 pounds of weed before toking up? That, to me, is someone that deserved to go to jail.
DBAWalt (anonymous) says…
smitty (Anonymous) says:
...yet the law crys a river for the problems that exist and always want mo' money to do what they have authority to do in the first place.
I don't see your point.
Of course they need more money, they don't have enough to staff the police cars, the investivators, the court appearances to testify, the traffic control untis, etc, etc, etc. to the point needed to enforce ALL the laws.
With limited money there is limited personnel. With limited personnel, there is selective enforcement of the laws so that the more serious are addressed first, the the less serious, and so forth.
In the eyes of whomever prioritizes the crimes, drugs are more serious than underaged drinking.
Like it or not, someone has to prioritize when there is not enough money. As they are asking for more money, it appears the people setting the priorities don't like having to do selective enforcement and want the resources to do the job right.
Personally, I think the worst position to be in is when you have a responsibility, but no authority or resources to achieve that responsibility.
Haiku_Cuckoo (anonymous) says…
I see a dissmissal coming. The traffic stop would not hold up in court and this is grounds for appeal if the judge allows a trial to continue. What type of Van size is illegal on I-35?
================
If that happened their victory would be short-lived. Remember, they still owe someone $5,000,000 worth of toot.
snap_pop_no_crackle (anonymous) says…
Just another innocent brother getting stepped on by the MAN.
cheta (anonymous) says…
Isn't funny how people assume he was Mexican. The story stated he was from Mexico. I would think that there are other nationalities that live in Mexico, but I could be wrong.
Congratulations to law enforcement for dong their job! It appears that these characters created a concealed compartment that was set up to haul drugs undetected. So this isn't the first time this vehicle has been used to transport drugs. I wonder if any of these drugs have caused accidents or got someone hooked on them, so they waste their life away. Again, it is nice to see the system work once in awhile.
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
RedwoodCoast (anonymous) says…
Confrontation: where are your statistics? Show us those then we'll believe you have no prejudices.
Also, what nationalities are you referring to when you talk about immigrants? And what crimes are you talking about? Of course immigrants are contributing to the crime rate in America. There are criminals of every race and ethnicity. According to your argument, immigrants (mostly the legals) would have to never commit any type of crime for you to accept them. I'm sure there are plenty of white guys out there cooking up meth on their back porch while their kids watch TV.
Hey, wait a minute, unless you are Native American, you are calling yourself a descendent of people who contribute to the crime rate. So when we stopped getting tons of people coming over from Europe, then it is time to call it quits for immigration?
Yeah, there are Mexican cartels who bring drugs into the country. But to generalize to the entire population of immigrants requires some mental acrobatics that I, for one, would label, well... rather racist.
Dominic_Sova (anonymous) says…
cheesburger on line 2
Confrontation (anonymous) says…
RedwoodCoast: I love how you twist my words into your own little statement. I'm not saying that all immigrants are criminals. Learn to read, idiot.