TRUCK FOUND WITH HALF-TON OF COCAINE

Found: $8.6 million worth of cocaine.

The owner may call the Broward Sheriff's Office, whose deputies
uncovered the large load -- 430 kilos of cocaine, or nearly half a
ton -- stashed inside an abandoned truck in Dania Beach Saturday morning.

The deputies were on routine patrol when they spotted the pickup truck
near Sheridan Street and the entrance ramp to Interstate 95 about 9:30
a.m.

Once they determined the truck had been abandoned, they arranged to
have it towed, said Cheryl Stopnick, BSO spokeswoman.

Because BSO protocol requires deputies to inventory the contents of
vehicles before they are towed away, the deputies began to log the
cargo, Stopnick said.

That's when they found 25 boxes in the cargo bed of the
truck.

The boxes contained 430 kilos of cocaine, estimated at $8.6
million.

Police describe the truck as a late-model Ford pickup, white over
blue, with a camper-style top.

It carries a Florida registration.

The narcotics section of BSO's strategic investigations division is
searching for the driver or owner of the truck.

Anyone with information about the truck or its driver is asked to call
Broward CrimeStoppers at 954-493-TIPS.