Officers from the Arkansas Highway Police (AHP) Division of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) uncovered a significant shipment of illegal drugs in a commercial motor vehicle along Interstate 40 late last week, according to AHTD Director Dan Flowers.

     On the afternoon of Friday, December 23, 2005, officers discovered several bundles of cocaine while conducting a safety inspection of a tractor-trailer at the Alma Highway Police Station in Crawford County .  The drugs were found in the sleeper berth and a hidden compartment in the floor of the truck.  The approximate total weight of the bundles was 115 pounds and its value was estimated at 1.5 million dollars.

     The driver was identified as Arturo A. Flores, age 53, of Somerton , Arizona .  It is believed the truck, transporting a load of produce, was traveling from California to New York .  Flores was arrested at the scene for Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver and is being held with no bond in the Crawford County Detention Center .  He is scheduled for arraignment in circuit court in Alma on January 3, 2006.