MCLEAN COUNTY, Ill. (WMBD) — A California man was arrested on Interstate 74 after allegedly being found with more than $3 million of cocaine in a box truck.
Osvaldo Anaya Ramirez, 40, was arrested and charged with manufacture/delivery of 900 grams of cocaine or more, controlled substance trafficking, and possession of 900 or more grams of cocaine, according to McLean County court documents.
A trooper with the Illinois State Police Department was conducting an inspection stop when Ramirez was telling him he was traveling from Santa Maria, Calif., to Bloomington, Ind., when talking about his path, Ramirez allegedly began to breathe heavily, the documents said.
Ramirez allegedly told the trooper he was paid just more than $3,000 to deliver empty wine barrels when the trooper noticed a padlock on the back of the truck, prompting him to request to search the truck, the documents said.
Upon a search of the truck, he allegedly found 30 one-kilogram or about 2.2-pound packages of cocaine. The packages were reportedly labeled with different things, such as Toyota and Zeno, they said.
Ramirez allegedly told the trooper he had no idea that there were drugs in the truck and said on July 29 he picked up the load from a warehouse in Santa Maria, Calif., when workers loaded the truck with wine barrels before he closed the door and locked it, according to the affidavit.
Investigators allege they found a footprint on top of one of the empty wine barrels in the back of the truck and compared it to Ramirez’s shoe. They say it matched, showing he had been in the back of the truck since it had been loaded.
Investigators also report finding just over $1,700 and two Apple iPhones when searching Ramirez.
The almost 80 pounds of cocaine has an estimated “street value” of more than $3.6 million.
This is the second big drug bust in McLean County in the last three months. Another California man was arrested on April 17 after allegedly having $10 million of cocaine in a semi.
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