OK, YOU'RE BUSTED

Deputies seize 2,539 lbs. of coke in U-Haul

A multimillion-dollar adventure in moving ended Wednesday night when
deputies stopped a U-Haul truck loaded with mattresses, lamps and
2,539 pounds of cocaine.

The cocaine load was the largest seized in Tucson since December 1996,
when officers found almost 6 tons in a warehouse southeast of downtown.

Sold wholesale in Arizona, Wednesday's load would be worth about $28
million, said Sgt. Brad Foust, Pima County Sheriff's Department spokesman.

The seizure followed about a month of occasional surveillance
conducted on a home near Picture Rocks and Sandario roads.

``We got lucky. We just thought it was a marijuana stash house. We
didn't even invest that much time,'' said Detective Dan Jankowski.

About 4 p.m. Wednesday, Jankowski saw a U-Haul truck arrive lightly
loaded and depart 15 minutes later riding low.

Detectives followed the truck to a parking lot near East Speedway and
North Swan Road. The driver left the truck, and a couple of hours
later another man drove it off, guided by two other cars.

The investigators summoned patrol cars, which stopped the truck about
9 p.m. on West Speedway as it was about to enter Interstate 10. The
guide cars escaped, Jankowski said.

After the U-Haul's driver consented to a search of the truck,
investigators found 14 extra-large boxes - intended for linens and
towels - packed with cocaine, Foust said.

Wrapped in strapping tape, the boxes slumped under the 50-or-so pounds
of cocaine packed in each. The powder probably was intended for the
West Coast, Jankowski said.

``Tucson is a hub city for distribution to the U.S. All the cocaine
goes to the West Coast, and the marijuana to the East,'' Jankowski
said. ``Most of the money gets made in marijuana.''

The department knows of dozens of local houses where drugs may be
stored before being shipped on.

``When we have the manpower we'll go pick a house and watch it,''
Jankowski said.

The department released the driver of the U-Haul because of doubts
about the depth of his involvement and hopes of catching more
important players, Foust said.

``It is plausible that (the driver) didn't know what was in the truck
and he was paid to go from point A to point B,'' Foust said.

``What we're looking for is obviously to track that load back down to
its point of origin. Then you most likely get to some other country's
involvement and arrest as far back along that chain as we can.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady