A cocaine bust by Canadian County Sheriff’s deputies netted 62 pounds of the illegal drug worth up to $800,000 earlier this week with the help of a K-9 deputy, Sheriff Chris West reported Friday.
Deputies with the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office made the arrest of a North Carolina truck driver after he was stopped along Interstate 40 near Radio Road about 1:30 a.m. Monday, June 8.
The driver, Irvin Rodriguez, 31, of Wake Forest, North Carolina, was taken into custody on a complaint of drug trafficking after being stopped for driving off the roadway. A Sheriff’s drug dog alerted to the presence of illegal drugs under the bed inside the sleeper compartment of the tractor-trailer.
The cocaine was contained in 23 individually-wrapped bundles weighing 62 pounds.
The driver had denied having any illegal drugs in the vehicle, but responded, “They are going to kill me” to the deputies after they told him they found the suitcase with the drugs, West reported.
“I believe Rodriguez’s spontaneous utterance was definitely an admission of guilt,” West said.
Rodriguez was taken to the Canadian County Jail, where he was booked on a complaint of trafficking in illegal drugs. His bail was set at fifty thousand dollars, and he remains in custody.
The value of the cocaine is estimated to be between $750,000 and $800,000.
