MURFREESBORO — More than 200 pounds of cocaine worth
$2.5 million and destined for Rutherford County was confiscated Tuesday
in the rural Florence community, said Sheriff Robert Arnold.
“These
illegal drugs were going to flood this community,” Sheriff Arnold said.
“While the county has dealt with large seizures in the past, we have
seen an increase of activity in the county over the last several years
where cocaine has been the object of an investigation.”
Sheriff’s
deputies and detectives from the Special Enforcement Bureau confiscated
the record 91 kilograms (200.2 pounds) from a horse trailer parked in
the Florence community. One kilogram weighs 2.2 pounds. The previous
record was 27 kilograms of cocaine recovered by the sheriff’s narcotics
unit in 2005.
Suspects
Antonio Dunlap, 41, of Nashville and Jose Anjel Beltran, 28, of
Bakersville, Calif., were charged with criminal conspiracy to distribute
cocaine by Rutherford County Sheriff’s Detective Travis Robinson. The
case was adopted by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration for
prosecution in U.S. District Court.
The
investigation began Tuesday when a citizen called the sheriff’s office
about the suspicious horse trailer. When Cpl. Brian Wright responded, he
found the trailer from Texas showed little evidence it was used to haul
horses. He notified Sgt. Chris Kauffman and Deputy Mike Hoekstra and
K-9 Balu, who indicated the presence of illegal drugs.
Narcotics
detectives obtained a search warrant where they found the tightly
wrapped kilograms of cocaine covered with thick axle grease to mask the
smell. Several suspects were charged.
Capt.
Jason Mathis, who supervises SEB, said cocaine dealers take the
kilograms of cocaine and cut the product by adding fillers before
selling the illegal drug.
“Realistically
with a cut, you get 182 kilograms,” Mathis said, adding the street
value is $100 a gram. “People typically use cocaine by smoking, snorting
or ingesting one-fourth to one-half gram at a time.”
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