State police intercept cocaine shipment on I-40, arrest Utah man

Moving violations proves costly for driver carrying illegal drugs

By Ralph Hardin

news@theeveningtimes.com

To all aspiring smugglers out there, a good rule of thumb when trafficking illegal drugs is “obey the traffic laws.”

Case in point: last week, Arkansas State Police intercepted a shipment of cocaine and arrested the Utah man carrying the illicit substance, interrupting a long-distance drug deal.

On Wednesday, Feb. 5, around 5:30 p.m., Arkansas State Police stopped a 2025 Audi SUV on Interstate 40 eastbound near the 273-mile marker in Crittenden County near Lehi.

Did they have a hot tip about the shipment or get some inside information? No, the vehicle was pulled over for… for a traffic violation.

Troopers searched the SUV and discovered five 1-kilo bundles of cocaine concealed in the vehicle.

The driver, Daniel Goldfinger, 32, of Salt Lake City, Utah, was taken into custody and transported to the Crittenden County Detention Center, where he was booked on felony charges of Trafficking a Controlled Substance.

Goldfinger told investigators that he was in route from Dallas, Texas, to Columbus,

Ohio.

GOLDFINGER