LITTLE ROCK (12-15) Officers from the Arkansas Highway Police Division of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) have uncovered another significant quantity of controlled substances, according to AHTD Director Dan Flowers.

     On Thursday morning, December 14, 2006, a tractor-trailer rig failed to stop at the Highway Police station on Interstate 40 at Alma.  After being stopped and directed back to the station, an inspection of the truck was conducted and consent to search was granted.  Officers subsequently discovered over 100 Valium tablets in a container inside the driver’s compartment that were prescribed to another individual.  The street value of the tablets is estimated at approximately $7,000.   Officers also discovered a credit card in the vehicle belonging to neither the driver nor the passenger.

     The driver was identified as Mikael Mezhlumyan, age 21, of Glendale, California.  It is believed the truck, transporting a load of carrots, was traveling from California to Massachusetts.  Mezhlumyan and a passenger identified as the truck owner, Armen Akopian, age 43, of North Hollywood, California, were arrested at the scene for Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver and Forgery.  Arraignment for the two is scheduled for Friday, December 15, 2006, in Crawford County Circuit Court.  Both are currently being held without bond in the Crawford County Detention Center in Van Buren.