Several truck drivers have recently been involved in highway incidents, including drug busts, a multi-state police chase and human smuggling.
A trucker last week reportedly led police on a chase through three states after attempting to ram his truck into a Cincinnati police officer’s cruiser, according to a report from Cincinnati-based WLWT.
The report states that trucker Tony Henson refused to stop after police tried to pull him over and attempted to ram the officer’s car. He then fled south on I-471 into Kentucky, then onto I-275, where officers tried to use tire deflation devices, causing two front tires to deflate and fall off the rims, the report adds.
Henson eventually stopped and surrendered after crossing into Indiana, the report states. According to the sheriff’s department statement, police found a digital scale, metal bottle caps containing white residue, a baggie containing an unidentified white powder, seven hypodermic needles, and two glass pipes in the truck.
Henson was arrested and charged with resisting law enforcement and possessing drug paraphernalia in Indiana. He could also be charged in Ohio and Kentucky.
Illinois State Police reported in February they arrested two men and seized 110 pounds of cocaine when they stopped a tractor-trailer on I-55 on Feb. 21.
A statement from the ISP says they stopped a tractor-trailer on northbound I-55 near Towanda for an inspection. During the stop, according to the police, a trooper “observed indicators of possible criminal activity. A state police canine alerted to the odor of illegal drugs within the semi-trailer.”
A search of the trailer resulted in the seizure of the cocaine hidden within the freight inside.
Arrested for controlled substance trafficking, delivery of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance were Brandon R. Weise, 35, of Murrieta, California, and Miguel Martinez, 36, of Desert Springs, California. Both subjects were taken to the McLean County Jail with a bond of $500,000 cash each.
Another trucker was arrested the same day, Feb. 21, in Eloy, Arizona, after police found about 40 pounds of methamphetamine in his cargo, according to a report from the Eloy Enterprise.
The report states that 30-year-old Juan Felix-Sotelo was charged with possessing and transporting dangerous drugs. An Arizona Department of Public Safety officer reportedly stopped Felix-Sotelo’s truck for speeding in a construction zone along I-10, and the driver told him he was transporting produce from California to Texas. After receiving consent to search the truck, the officer reportedly found 39 packages of crystal meth in an ice chest.
Felix-Sotelo and a passenger, Raymundo Felix, were arrested and taken to jail on $75,000 bond each.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection have also announced three trucking-related crimes recently. Laredo, Texas, Border Patrol agents on Jan. 31 found eight immigrants hidden in the cab of a truck at the border checkpoint on I-35. The immigrants were found to be in the U.S. illegally. The driver and eight immigrants were taken into custody.
Three immigrants being illegally smuggled into the U.S. were found in a shipment of produce from Mexico. (CBP photo)Border Patrol agents in Nogales, Arizona, on March 7 found three immigrants hiding among a shipment in a truck at the I-19 checkpoint.
A canine alerted officers to an odor in the trailer, and officers found the three individuals – one from Guatemala and two from Mexico – among produce from Mexico.
The truck was seized and the driver and three immigrants were arrested.
CBP officers found more than 1,200 pounds of marijuana behind a false wall in a trailer. (CBP photo)Additionally, on March 1, Border Patrol agents at the Calexico, California, East cargo facility seized 1,239 pounds of marijuana that was stashed behind a false wall in a trailer.
During an x-ray exam of the tractor-trailer, CBP officers identified an anomaly in the trailer, and upon further inspection, officers found a false wall in the front of the trailer containing 50 wrapped bundles of marijuana.
