PLAINFIELD, Ind. — It was license plate readers that led to an eventual cocaine bust in Plainfield by Indianapolis Metro Police.
IMPD Sgt. Paul McDonald says Tuesday morning they were tipped off by other law enforcement agencies that a semi-truck with a possible load of cocaine might be on its way toward Indianapolis. Not long after that, they say license plate readers pinged the truck near Terre Haute.
“So as it came through our state they alerted us that this truck might be coming through Indianapolis,” said McDonald.
They eventually caught up with the truck at the Plainfield rest stop along I-70.
“We spotted the truck at the rest area. (The driver) was doing his required downtime after driving all day,” McDonald said. “He actually had a legitimate load that was due to be delivered the next morning in Plainfield.”
McDonald said they searched the truck and found 286 pounds of cocaine in a secret compartment of the trailer. That amount of cocaine has a street value of roughly $13 million. He said it was tough to find inside the truck the way they had hidden the drugs.
Mauro Alonso-Vargas was the driver. He told the police he didn’t know the drugs were in the trailer. He was arrested and taken to the Hendricks County Jail.
McDonald said if the drugs were intended for the Indianapolis area it would have had a big effect on the entire Midwest the way it likely would have been dispersed.
