LAS VEGAS — A Canadian truck driver is facing drug trafficking charges in Nevada after being caught outside of Las Vegas with more than 200 pounds of heroin and cocaine, according to a report from KLAS in Las Vegas citing court documents.
Mark Delarge, 49, of Alberta, Canada reportedly searched the internet about how to smuggle drugs across the border.
KLAS reported that on May 9, police patrolling Interstate 15 south of Las Vegas arrested Delarge following a traffic stop.
A detective reportedly first stopped Delarge, who was driving a semitruck in Jean, for traveling an estimated 75 mph in a 55-mile-per-hour work zone, police said. The detective reportedly noticed Delarge, who said he was returning to Canada from California, was nervous “because his hands were shaking,” documents said.
The detective called for a narcotics detector dog to search the truck, police said. The dog alerted police to “odors of methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine.” Delarge then admitted there was cocaine in the vehicle,” documents said.
“Mark said that as he was traveling from Canada to Los Angeles, he had conducted an internet search for ‘how to smuggle drugs across the border,’” police said. “Mark began to go to different website[s] and eventually contact an individual on Facebook… who then agreed to have Mark pick up cocaine in the Riverside area and transport it back to Canada.”
Inside the truck, police located several boxes of cocaine and heroin weighing a combined 201 pounds, documents said.
A Clark County grand jury later voted to indict Delarge on four drug-trafficking-related charges, records said. During a grand jury return hearing, Clark County District Court Chief Judge Jerry Wiese set bail at $250,000.
Delarge has remained in custody since his initial arrest.
He was due to enter a formal plea in district court on June 16.
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
