COCAINE SEIZED IN FRANKLIN COUNTY

Stash Worth $12.7 Million, Authorities Estimate

Franklin County authorities made a stunning discovery when they found 108
cellophane-wrapped packages hidden in plain sight in the otherwise empty
cargo hold of a tractor-trailer truck: 237 pounds of pure cocaine.

The Sunday afternoon seizure at the Petro Truckstop off Interstate 85 near
Carnesville marked the biggest drug bust in the Northeast Georgia county's
history, though chances are the cargo was headed for Atlanta.

"That's a lot of dope," said Franklin County Sheriff Hugh Roach, who gave
credit to the Piedmont-Northern Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad for
temporarily clogging an artery of the Southeast's drug trade. "They did
accomplish something by getting it off the street. It means it ain't going
to some kid somewhere."

The cocaine, 108 kilograms of uncut white powder, was valued by members of
the drug squad at $12.7 million. It wasn't the state's biggest drug
seizure; Georgia State Patrol troopers working I-85 in West Georgia's Troup
County have more than once intercepted shipments in excess of 110 kilos.

Authorities said they arrested two people after the 4 p.m. search, but they
weren't releasing their names Monday, citing an ongoing investigation. They
also wouldn't say what led them to search the truck or who was involved in
the initial search.

One suspect, the driver of the truck, is in federal custody in Macon, where
he was taken early Monday after the federal Drug Enforcement Agency was
called in, DEA spokeswoman Eldred Earls said. Another suspect is awaiting
extradition from South Carolina, where he fled and was eventually captured
after the search began, authorities said.

Large interstate cocaine shipments typically have scout vehicles that run
ahead of trucks and sometimes provide distractions when police get
involved. Authorities would not say if that was the case in Sunday's incident.

The tractor-trailer truck, like many others involved in cocaine
trafficking, had Texas license plates, Franklin County Sheriff's
Investigator Jimmy LeCroy said.

The driver wasn't telling authorities where he was heading, LeCroy said.
"Somebody's looking for him and the stuff, I'm sure," LeCroy said.