Lawmen bust 2 truckers with more than 130 pounds of cocaine

The Associated Press

1/17/2008

DANDRIDGE, Tenn. — Two California truck drivers have been arrested while allegedly transporting a stash of cocaine with an estimated street value of $1.5 million, according to Jefferson County, Tenn., authorities.

Sheriff David Davenport said officers from his department, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and other agencies uncovered the illicit drug during a bust along Interstate 40 in eastern Tennessee.

The truck’s driver, Mario Melgar, 46, of Moreno Valley, Calif., and his passenger, Jose Alberto Aquirre, 40, of Bakersfield, Calif., were transferred to Blount County on a federal detainer.

Melgar and Aquirre were stopped in an 18-wheeler on I-40 east Monday afternoon for going 85 miles per hour in a 55-mph zone. The stop was made near the Mile Marker 419 rest area.

Tennessee Highway Patrol Trooper Mark Self asked Melgar for his license, log book and what type of load he was hauling. Melgar reportedly said he was taking produce to Bronx, N.Y. 

His log book showed two shipments from California and a shipment from Yuma, Ariz., with a 14-hour lay over. 

"The drivers stopped for 14 hours in Yuma, Ariz. We all know the southwest of the United States is an area where a lot of drugs come across the southern border, as well as the west coast where the load originated," said Lt. Mike Higgs, a spokesman for the THP.

Self was suspicious of Melgar, who was violating the Hours of Service rules, so he contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Deputy Steve Arnold and his drug-detecting dog responded.

The dog alerted for drugs on the back of the trailer shortly after a driver's license check showed Melgar had prior drug possession arrests. He had also been deported to Mexico in 1998. 

Melgar told investigators there were no drugs in the trailer and agreed to let officers search the big rig. But Aquirre, who was acting nervous, said they were, in fact, hauling narcotics.

While investigators unloaded the trailer, they found 139 pounds of cocaine in a pallet. 

"They tried to mask it,” Davenport said. “It was in produce, stuck in the middle of the produce. The dog alerted and the whole set of circumstances, but it is just a drop in the bucket of what is going on up and down the interstate.”

He said the Aquirre and Melgar were taken into custody and are facing federal charges.