VEHICLE ENFORCEMENT SCORES HUGE COCAINE BUST

FRANKLIN - Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement officers made what they believe to
be the largest highway interdiction cocaine seizure in state history Friday
after inspecting a Freightliner with a nervous driver, authorities said. A
truck driven by James Michael Wall, whose driver's license listed him as a
resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was found to be carrying 64 pounds of
cocaine - with an estimated street value of $850,000 - said KVE Capt.
Robert Brown. The truck also contained two revolvers, a semi-automatic
weapon, two stun guns and a suitcase that contained $600,000 in cash when
it was stopped for a routine safety inspection on Interstate 65 at 11:20 p.m.

Finding the stash under the bunk in the sleeper of the truck that Wall
reportedly owns and operates "was like Christmas and your birthday all
wrapped up in one," said KVE Canine Officer Steve Burke, whose dog, Shelby,
sniffed out the cocaine.

According to Burke, KVE Officer Shannon Chelf became suspicious after he
inspected Wall's empty truck at a weigh station at the 4-mile marker near
Franklin.

"Shannon started doing the inspection and the guy was coming empty from
California to Indiana, and that didn't make sense," Burke said.

Wall reportedly told Chelf that he was driving his refrigeration truck to
Indiana so he could trade it for a regular tractor trailer. But Wall wasn't
taking the shortest route to Indiana from California, and that tipped off
authorities who know that "if you map it out, time is money with trucks,"
Burke said.

The shortest route to Indianapolis from California would have included a
stint on I-70 through St. Louis, not a trip on I-65, Burke said.

According to Burke, most truckers try to save money by taking the quickest
route to destinations because a monthly payment for big trucks can be
around $2,000.

Wall was driving a 2000 model Freightliner.

Burke said Wall acted nervous when Chelf spoke of money matters.

"Every time Shannon would talk to him about money, the guy would lay his
head down on the counter," Burke said.

When Chelf asked Wall if he could search his truck, Wall initially agreed
but then changed his mind.

At that point, Burke, who was at the weigh station at the time of the
incident, took his drug-sniffing Labrador retriever, Shelby, out to search
the truck.

After Shelby began biting and scratching at the driver's side door of the
truck's cab, the officers began their search of the cab, where officers
discovered cocaine, the cash and the guns.

After complaining of chest pain, Wall was taken to The Medical Center in
Franklin, and then transferred The Medical Center in Bowling Green.

Shortly after noon on Saturday, Wall was released from the hospital and
lodged in the Warren County Regional Jail, according to authorities.

The case has been turned over to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, and
the drugs, weapons and cash were taken Frankfort, Brown said.