Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Sept. 18, 2026:
- Two big truck-enforcement stops over just a few days in this state.
- Stolen copper recovered after fraudulent pickup.
- Human trafficking awareness took center stage during World Cup.
Nebraska troopers stop truck moving $50M in drugs, recover stolen cargo
The Nebraska State Patrol this month has made two high-profile interdictions involving tractor-trailers, taking nearly 20,000 pounds of drugs off the street and recovering a trailer full of stolen electronics and other items in separate incidents
“The Nebraska State Patrol is a tremendous law enforcement agency. Our troopers do amazing work to keep us safe -- through their patrols in the air, as well as on the ground,” said Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. “Both of these seizures happened because our troopers are highly trained and are ready to investigate when it appears criminal activity is underway.”
The first incident occurred Friday, Sept. 4, at approximately 8 a.m., when a trooper performed a traffic stop on a tractor-trailer near mile marker 228 on I-80. During the stop, the trooper performed an inspection and detected the odor of marijuana.
Troopers searched the vehicle and located thousands of pounds of marijuana, THC products, and psilocybin products in the trailer.
In total, there were 27 pallets of boxes in the trailer containing a total of approximately 5,200 pounds of marijuana, 13,600 pounds of THC products, and 1,000 pounds of psilocybin products.Nebraska State Patrol
The street value of the drugs has been estimated at over $50 million. NSP believes this is the largest volume drug interdiction in agency history.
[Related: Owner-op jailed in Oklahoma for hauling 'legal' hemp]
The driver, William Gomez, 44, of Virginia, was arrested for possession of controlled substances and possession with intent to deliver. He was lodged in Dawson County Jail.
The second incident happened Wednesday, Sept. 9. That evening, NSP was alerted that a truck in Nebraska may be transporting stolen professional speaker equipment valued at $250,000.
At approximately 5:30 p.m., a trooper located the truck parked at a truck stop near Gothenburg. The trooper contacted the driver and discovered that the driver’s delivery paperwork was false. The driver was placed out of service and not allowed to continue driving.
Troopers then obtained a search warrant for the trailer, which revealed that approximately half of the trailer contained miscellaneous items that were intended for Walmart facilities in Florida. The other half of the trailer contained the high-end commercial speakers that were destined for Las Vegas.
Further investigation led to the discovery that all the items had been stolen from Illinois and New York. Investigators are still working to determine the total value of the stolen items, but the speakers alone have an estimated value of $250,000.
After being placed out of service, the driver fled. An arrest warrant has been issued for the driver, who was identified as Ashwani Kumar by his New Jersey non-domiciled CDL, NSP said.
Both investigations remain ongoing.
[Related: Cargo theft by fraud: White task force, freight crime in spotlight]
Kentucky police bust in-transit cargo theft
Police in eastern Kentucky announced the recent recovery of a stolen load of industrial copper spools.
On Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, the Prestonsburg (Kentucky) Police Department was contacted by the Kentucky State Police to attempt to locate the stolen load, from out of state and reportedly off course in Prestonsburg, according to the shipper's GPS tracking.
Upon Detective Dennis Hutchinson’s initial arrival, there was no suspicious activity observed at the commercial building found via the shipper's tracking, and he departed the scene to make contact with the property owner, who was known and cooperative. The property owner had recently leased the building to a verified out-of-state business and agreed to meet Hutchinson at the location.
When the detective returned approximately 10 minutes later, he observed a commercial vehicle backed to the loading docks with a forklift unloading large spools of power utility grade copper. Immediately, the fork-lift operator observed police vehicles returning to the parking lot and jumped off the fork-lift to flee on foot.
Patrol officer J. Paige Maynard and her K9 Partner Jaak responded to the scene and began a man-track from the fork-lift to a riverbank, where Christopher Delgado of California was eventually located and taken into custody.
He was ultimately lodged in Floyd County Detention Center on charges of Receiving Stolen Property over $10,000 and Fleeing/Evading Police on Foot.
The driver of the truck, Haykaz Gasparyan of Tujunga, California, police determined, was operating his vehicle with fraudulent required documentation and was arrested by Kentucky State Police related to his involvement in the theft of cargo. Police ultimately found the driver's trucking company created fraudulent documents to make the company appear legitimate at pickup of the copper.
“It is our belief that the copper eventually was to be loaded on another truck and transported out of the state, and the events that unfolded here were intended to serve as a ‘transfer station’ located well away from the intended route and interstate highways,” Prestonsburg PD said.
Inspectors spread human trafficking awareness over summer soccer tournament
Commercial motor vehicle law enforcement personnel in 10 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces participated in the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s special human trafficking awareness, identification and prevention initiative associated with this summer’s World Cup soccer competition.
Participating jurisdictions distributed 4,484 human trafficking awareness materials, including 2,851 wallet cards, 767 window decals, 704 postcards and 162 posters. Enforcement personnel also delivered 37 presentations, hosted 11 public events and made 41 media contacts before and during the event. Data was collected from June 1 through July 30.
The goal of the special initiative was to increase awareness of human trafficking risks associated with large-scale international events, such as the football/soccer competition, and educate commercial motor vehicle drivers, motor carriers, law enforcement officers and the public about the warning signs of human trafficking and how to report suspected activity.
Reported outreach activities included discussing human trafficking reporting resources with drivers at the conclusion of inspections, incorporating anti-trafficking information on inspection reports, distribution of wallet cards and decals, and media outreach to promote the campaign.
CVSA added that roadside inspections present an opportunity for enforcement personnel to potentially identify human trafficking situations. As such, inspections were also a part of this initiative.
Inspectors conducted 4,340 Level I, II and III Inspections and reported 237 commercial motor vehicles with passengers, 244 authorized passengers and three unauthorized passengers.
CVSA’s Human Trafficking Prevention Program seeks to reduce human trafficking throughout North America through coordinated enforcement, investigation and education within the commercial motor vehicle industry. The program offers free resources, outreach materials and more.
If you suspect someone is in a human trafficking situation or you are the victim of human trafficking, call 888-373-7888 in the U.S., 833-900-1010 in Canada or 800-553-3000 in Mexico.
