State police make major drug bust near Lehi
ASP seizes more than 15 poinds of cocaine during traffic stop in Crittenden County
By the Times News Staff
www.theeveningtimes.com
Transporting illegal drugs on the interstate is already a risky proposition, but attempting to do it on a holiday weekend during stepped-up police presence is definitely an ill-advised endeavor.
But such was the case last week for a New York man who was trying to get back home with a haul of contraband ahead of the Labor Day weekend.
On Thursday, Aug. 29, around 6 p.m., Arkansas State Police stopped a 2024 Honda HRV on Interstate 40 East at the 271-mile marker in Crittenden County near the community of Lehi, for a traffic violation.
Troopers searched the vehicle and found seven kilo bundles (about 15 lbs., 7 oz.) of cocaine hidden in the spare tire area of the trunk of the vehicle.
Troopers, who were in the middle of a two-week-long anti-drunk driving enforcement operation, arrested the driver, Angel Lazala Soto, 59, of New York, and transported him to the Crittenden County Detention Center, where he was booked and charged with felony Trafficking of a Controlled Substance.
Lazala Soto told investigators he was traveling from Austin, Texas, to New York when he was pulled over..
Photos courtesy of ASP
