The Associated Press
AMARILLO, Texas -- A truck driver gets caught with nearly nine million dollars worth of cocaine in one of the largest drug busts in Texas’ Panhandle history.
DPS troopers pulled over an 18 wheeler on I-40 near Groom Wednesday morning and discovered a hidden compartment. “The trooper noticed some unusual tool marks and rivets that didn`t match the other rivets in the trailer, and he suspected that this had been tampered with, so he got a consent to search from the driver,” said Trooper Wayne Bieghle.
In the trailer they found a false wall, and behind it, 195 pounds of cocaine, neatly stacked from the floor up. Sandy Sanders, a truck driver, says it would be easy for someone to create a hidden compartment in a truck trailer. “It would be very simple just to extend the wall out and put a false wall, probably no more than 6-8 inches, and it would probably hold that much (cocaine),” Sanders said.
Troopers say I-40 is a major drug corridor, and the drugs usually go east, while the money goes west. “Take the money west to buy it, then ship the drugs back east,” said Trooper Bieghle.
He says DPS makes drug busts along I-40 at least once a week, but this bust will go down in the record books. “I went back and checked our records, it`s the fifth largest cocaine bust, we`ve had up here in the area since the mid-80`s, it`s a significant load, and it`s gonna make a dent in somebody`s operation,” said Bieghle.
Newton Cohen, 45, from Canada was arrested and is now in FBI custody. Troopers believe he started in southern California and was headed to the New York area.