POLICE DISCOVERED MORE THAN 260 POUNDS OF COCAINE -- WITH A STREET VALUE OF
$3 MILLION -- HIDDEN IN A PICKUP THAT WAS STOPPED AFTER MAKING A BAD LANE
CHANGE ON INTERSTATE 35 IN OLATHE.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents allowed the truck to make the
drug-runner's planned delivery in northern Illinois on Monday while they
watched. Investigators kept the case a secret until Tuesday night because
they were looking for more suspects.

The seizure of the 264 pounds of cocaine is the largest that local
investigators recall.

An Olathe police officer thought he was making a routine traffic stop when
he pulled over the driver just south of Santa Fe Street about 6:40 a.m.
Saturday. The driver slipped up when the officer started asking questions
about her journey, said Olathe Police Lt. Frank Galbrecht.

"There were some things that didn't appear right," Galbrecht said. "He
started to ask questions and just one little piece at a time, it became
clear there were controlled substances."

The woman said she was making a long journey -- police won't say from where
- -- but the officer didn't see any luggage in her truck. She told the
officer she had shipped her clothes ahead, but couldn't give him the phone
number of the person she had sent them to, Galbrecht said.

Eventually, the officer called for a drug-sniffing dog, which indicated
drugs were all over the Dodge pickup. Police said they found the cocaine
wrapped in 120 one-kilo packages hidden in a false compartment.

The driver was arrested. Investigators would not say Tuesday night whether
anyone was arrested during the delivery in Illinois, but they planned to
make another statement today.

To reach Richard Espinoza, Johnson County police reporter, call (816)
234-7714 or send e-mail to respinoza@kcstar.com.