A traffic stop on Interstate 20/59 in Tuscaloosa led to a major cocaine bust over the weekend, with a Tuscaloosa Police Department K-9 playing a key role in the discovery.
Cocaine Bust
Oswaldo De La Cruz Gutierrez, 48, of Randolph, was arrested Friday after agents with the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force conducted a traffic stop on a Ford F-350 towing a gooseneck trailer near the 70-mile marker on Interstate 20/59 in Tuscaloosa.
The stop was reportedly initiated for a lane violation, and Gutierrez was the vehicle’s sole occupant. According to the court documents, agents were issuing a warning citation when TPD’s K-9, Baki, arrived on scene. Gutierrez allegedly gave verbal consent for agents to search the vehicle during the stop, and the dog, Baki, conducted an open-air sniff, then ‘alerted’ to possible drugs near the tailgate of the truck and the trailer’s gooseneck.
Agents then conducted a probable cause search and located a backpack hidden under the spare tire in the gooseneck. Inside, they found roughly 14 pounds of cocaine.
The deposition says Gutierrez was read his Miranda rights and declined to answer questions about the drugs. He was arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine and failure to affix a tax stamp.
The sheer weight of the seized cocaine saw Gutierrez first jailed without bond, and though district judge Joanne Jannik ultimately set a bond at $2 million. He remained in the Tuscaloosa County Jail on Tuesday afternoon.
Original reporting: The Tuscaloosa Thread — read the source article.
