Notice to Media

Highway Police Officers Uncover 2,500 Pounds of Cocaine Near Hope

LITTLE ROCK (9-19) – Another large shipment of drugs was confiscated on Arkansas highways this week. Officers from the Arkansas Highway Police Division of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department have uncovered over 2,500 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $100 million, according to AHTD Director Dan Flowers.

Early Monday morning, September 18, a Highway Police unit stopped a tractor-trailer rig for inspection at the Interstate 30 weigh station just west of Hope. The driver, Elbert Johnson, age 65, of Coalgate, Okalahoma, claimed he was carrying cantaloupes. A subsequent search of the trailer uncovered several boxes containing the cocaine and $12,000 in cash.

Johnson and a passenger in the truck, Joseph Heck, 48 of Centrahoma, Oklahoma were booked into the Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office for illegal possession of a controlled substance. The two men were arraigned in Hope Circuit Court today. Johnson is being held on a $2 million bond and Heck is being held on a $1 million bond. It is believed that Johnson and Heck were traveling from Texas. Officers are attempting to identify the destination of the load.

“This arrest comes less than a month after the discovery of 1,384 pounds of marijuana on Interstate 40. The Highway Police are doing an excellent job of seizing large amounts of illegal drugs all over the state," Flowers said.

“So far this year, 5,131 pounds of marijuana and 2,555 pounds of cocaine have been discovered by the Highway Police on the state’s roadways,” AHP Chief Ron Burks added.

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