LITTLE ROCK (5-23)  Officers from the Arkansas Highway Police Division of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) have uncovered another significant shipment of illegal drugs, according to AHTD Director Dan Flowers.

     On Saturday, May 20, 2006, a tractor-trailer rig was stopped at the Highway Police station on Interstate 40 at Alma.  During an inspection of the truck, officers from the Arkansas Highway Police discovered several bundles of cocaine weighing approximately 200 pounds and valued at approximately $3.1 million. 

     The driver was identified as Margarito P. Curiel, age 39, of Phoenix, Arizona.  It is believed the truck, transporting a load of toys, was traveling from California to New York.  Curiel was arrested at the scene for Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver.  He is being held on $50,000 bond at the Crawford County Detention Center and is scheduled to be arraigned in Van Buren on Wednesday, May 31, 2006.