LITTLE ROCK (10-25) Officers from the Arkansas Highway Police Division of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department have uncovered four large shipments of illegal drugs over the past several weeks, according to AHTD Director Dan Flowers.

     On September 5, 2004, at approximately 1:15 a.m., and again on October 7, at approximately noon, tractor-trailer rigs were stopped at the Highway Police station on Interstate 40 at Lehi near West Memphis.  Highway Police officers discovered several bundles of marijuana inside the trailers. The total weight of the bundles was estimated at 5,002 pounds.  These two shipments were valued at approximately $7.5 million.

     The driver of the first tractor-trailer rig was identified as Jorge H. Zaragoza, age 39, of Alamo, Texas.  It is believed he and a passenger, Rocky Rodriguez, Jr., 40, of Garland, Texas, were traveling from Texas to Illinois.  The truck was transporting mixed produce.  Zaragoza and Rodriguez were arrested at the scene for Possession of a Controlled Substance With Intent To Deliver, a felony, and were booked in at the Crittenden County Detention Center.  There were approximately 3,578 pounds of marijuana in their possession.  The cash value of the marijuana confiscated is more than $5 million.

     The driver of the truck stopped on October 7, was identified as Santiago Cruz, age 32, of San Benito, Texas.  It is believed he and a passenger, Leonel Martinez III, 28, also of San Benito, Texas, were also traveling from Texas to Illinois.  The truck was transporting general freight.  Cruz and Martinez were arrested at the scene for Possession of a Controlled Substance With Intent To Deliver, a felony, and were booked in at the Crittenden County Detention Center. The total weight of the bundles was estimated at 1,424 pounds.  The value of the shipment is approximately $2 million.

     Another shipment of drugs was found on Friday morning, October 15, at approximately 3:00 a.m.  A tractor-trailer rig transporting used vehicles was stopped at the Highway Police station on Interstate 40 near Alma.  Highway Police officers discovered several bundles of marijuana in hidden compartments in one of the vehicles being transported.  The total weight of the bundles was estimated at 498 pounds at a value of about $750,000.  Approximately $1,600.00 in U.S. currency was also seized as evidence.

     The driver was identified as Salvador Jauregui, age 26, of Hacienda Heights, California.  It is believed he and a passenger, Rene O. Sanchez, age 34, of Upland, California, were traveling from California to Alabama.  Both men were arrested at the scene for Possession of a Controlled Substance With Intent To Deliver, a felony, and were booked in at the Crawford County Detention Center.

     On October 17, at approximately 4:45 p.m., a tractor-trailer rig was stopped by an Arkansas Highway Police patrol unit on Interstate 40 near Plumerville in Conway County.  The officer discovered a duffel bag containing several bundles of cocaine having a total estimated weight of 25 kilograms, or 55 pounds.  The value of the cocaine is approximately $800,000.

     The driver was identified as Sergio Carreno, age 38, of Chino, California.  It is believed he and the co-driver, Greg Inzunza, age 55, of Pomona, California, were transporting frozen food from California to Georgia.  Both men were arrested at the scene for Possession of a Controlled Substance With Intent To Deliver, a felony, and were booked in at the Conway County Detention Center.

     In 2004, Arkansas Highway Police officers have confiscated over 13,000 pounds of marijuana totaling more than $20 million, on Arkansas’s roadways.  More than 138 kilograms, or more than 300 pounds, of cocaine have been confiscated at a value of approximately $4.4 million. 

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