COCAINE SEIZED IN STOP ON TURNPIKE

1,804 Pounds Found, Worth Over $16 Million

It started as a routine traffic stop, then turned into one of the
state's largest drug seizures when a state trooper pulled over a
tractor-trailer rumbling down the Pennsylvania Turnpike and found
1,804 pounds of pure cocaine, authorities said yesterday.

State police and Chester County District Attorney Anthony Sarcione
yesterday displayed 820 kilos, which they said had a street value of
more than $16 million. The cocaine was neatly wrapped in plastic and
packaged in crates with a shipment of the herb cilantro.

This is the second case in the region involving cocaine and cilantro
in the last five months. In September, neighbors in Horsham Township,
Montgomery County, complained about the smell of rotting cilantro,
leading police to discover 1,227 pounds of cocaine hidden in a truck.

The Chester County seizure, which occurred Sunday in Honey Brook
Township, also comes in the wake of a 1.25-ton cocaine shipment
discovered among frozen cauliflower last month in North Jersey.

"This is huge," Sarcione said, staring at the cocaine, with pieces of
fresh cilantro clinging to the wrap.

Police piled the kilos chest-high at the Embreeville barracks, where
it will be secured as evidence for trial.

"This is even big for the feds," Sarcione said.

"If it's not the biggest[in Pennsylvania], it's right up there," said
Special Agent Larry McElynn of the Drug Enforcement Administration in
Philadelphia. "It's certainly in the top 10."

In the last year, more cocaine has been coming into the Philadelphia
area, McElynn said. After increasing enforcement decreased the amount
of cocaine coming from the Caribbean, more drugs are coming from
Colombia via Mexico, he said.

"Typically, Colombia does the production and Mexicans are in charge of
the smuggling," McElynn said. "The whole Southwest border is open.
Once they clear the border, it's an easy shot to the largest drug
market on the planet -- New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania."

An estimated 800 tons of cocaine is produced in South America each
year. Officials estimate 300 tons come to the United States and about
150 tons are transported to the Northeast.

"Loads like the one seized in Chester County are coming into this part
of the country every day," McElynn said.

Authorities believe Sunday's shipment came from South America, passed
through New York, and was heading to an area west of Pennsylvania,
said State Police Maj. Tyree Blocker.

"Pennsylvania is a pipeline for coke in the northeastern part of the
United States," Blocker said. The investigation, he said, is continuing.

The driver of the 53-foot Kenworth tractor-trailer, Jorge Luna, 40, of
San Juan, Texas, remains in the Chester County Jail with bail set at
$1 million.

Authorities said Trooper Thomas Martinez was patrolling the turnpike
when he spotted the truck heading west and erratically changing lanes
near the Morgantown exit.

After pulling the truck over, authorities said, the driver gave
written permission to have the vehicle searched. The truck was taken
to the Bowmansville barracks, where police dug through the cilantro to
find the cocaine.

Luna is charged with possession of cocaine and possession with intent
to deliver. Blocker said that there were no other suspects associated
with this shipment, but that investigators were trying to determine
where the drugs came from and where the driver was going.