The Porter County
Sheriff’s Police seized more than 10 pounds of cocaine on Monday following a
traffic stop on the Indiana Toll Road in Jackson Township.
According to
police, at 12 p.m. Officer Jacob Kerwin was working a drug interdiction
detail when he stopped an eastbound vehicle--a 2009 Nissan with Illinois
plates--for speeding and unsafe lane movement at the 36 mile marker.
On making contact
with the female driver and female passenger, Kerwin observed them to be
“nervous,” found their respective “travel stories” to be “inconsistent,” and
made note of numerous other “criminal indicators” of narcotics trafficking,
police said.
Kerwin obtained the
driver’s consent to perform a search of the vehicle, in which he was
assisted by Sgt. Matt Edwards--off duty at the time but in the area--and his
K-9 partner, Joker, who subsequently alerted to the presence of narcotics in
the vehicle, police said.
Kerwin and Edwards
then discovered two hidden compartments or “traps,” one each beneath the
driver’s and passenger’s seats, containing a total of five kilos of cocaine,
or slightly more than 11 pounds, police said.
“In an effort to
minimize exposure of the unknown substance to officers at the scene, the
Porter County Multi-Enforcement Group utilized a TruNarc spectrometer,
confirming the substance was cocaine,” police said. “TruNarc is used to test
through packaging for the presence of a controlled substance.”
If sold by the
gram, police said, the five kilos would have an estimated street value of
$500,000.
The two females
were detained, then released pending further investigation.
Sheriff Dave
Reynolds “is very pleased with the combined efforts of our Drug Unit and our
officers working HIDTA patrols in our continued fight against drugs coming
into our community,” the PCSP said.
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