Huge coke bust
Agents find 105 more kilos as total haul climbs $4.8 million
Navajo Nation Police officer Leon Mitchell directs trucker Felipe Lopez from his mud caked vehicle to be transported to a McKinley Country Sheriff unit Thursday afternoon near Manuelito, N.M. Lopez led officers on a search spanning several hours, through snow, mud and rocky terrain after Lopez fled the scene of an accident. Lopez is suspected to have also been transporting 135 kilograms of cocaine. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger / Independent]

By Leslie Wood
Staff writer

GALLUP — The local Motor Transportation Division confiscated 135 kilograms of cocaine by the time they completed a search of a commercial vehicle at the port of entry Friday.

Authorities initially found 30 kilograms of cocaine inside the abandoned 2000 Freightliner Thursday, but discovered the additional 105 kilograms while conducting a more in depth search.

The estimated street value of the drugs is valued at more than $4.8 million, Lt. Robert Baca, a spokesman for the Motor Transportation Division, said. Some of the cocaine was hidden underneath a mattress and the rest was discovered in a sleeper compartment.

James Smid, an MTD officer, found the drugs while conducting a routine welfare check of the commercial vehicle that was found abandoned in a ditch off Interstate Highway 40 near mile marker 8 at about 4 a.m., Thursday. Felipe Lopez, 41, fled the vehicle after it jack-knifed off the roadway and was rendered immobile.

A handful of law enforcement agencies searched the vast hills of Manuelito Thursday for Lopez after several neighbors complained of an unidentified man knocking on their doors.
“It was a 5-mile trek through the hills and the mud,” Baca said of the search.

Lopez’s footprints eventually led officers to his whereabouts north of Interstate 40 near New Mexico Highway 118. Sheriff’s K-9s were also utilized during the search.

Lopez is currently facing a federal charge of possession of a controlled substance, but could face an additional count of trafficking cocaine. He is in custody in Albuquerque.

The Albuquerque Drug Enforcement Agency is conducting the investigation into whether additional parties were involved with the load.

“They have the equipment and manpower,” Baca said of the DEA.

This is the third significant find for local port of entry officers. Nearly two tons of marijuana was confiscated during a pair of drug busts on Dec. 18 and Dec. 22. The estimated value was about $12 million.

The agency made 34 drug seizures during 2007.

“There’s quite a bit (of illegal drugs) moving on theinterstate,” Baca said.