TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (WIAT) — A routine traffic stop on Interstate 59/20 has culminated in a significant drug trafficking arrest, resulting in the confiscation of over 14 pounds of cocaine.
The West Alabama Narcotics Task Force stopped a black Ford F-350 towing a trailer when the driver was observed failing to maintain lane integrity, according to a deposition filed on Monday.
Upon the vehicle being stopped, law enforcement identified the driver as 49-year-old Oswaldo De La Cruz Gutierrez. He was the sole occupant of the vehicle and reportedly gave verbal permission for the agents to conduct a search. Meanwhile, Tuscaloosa Police Department’s K-9 unit, featuring the dog Baki, conducted an exterior sniff and indicated the presence of drugs.
The K-9 Baki’s detection skills led to the discovery of 14.2 pounds of cocaine concealed inside a backpack. This bag was strategically hidden beneath the spare tire of the gooseneck trailer, situated in the truck bed, as detailed in court records.
“It’s not surprising,” commented John Clayton, Assistant Special Agent in Charge with the Drug Enforcement Administration. “There is a significant amount of trafficking along the I-20/59 corridor.”
Methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl are the top three drugs being trafficked almost every day across the state. As Clayton mentioned, while it’s not a shock to law enforcement, locating drugs is not always easy.
“If you can dream it, it can be done,” Clayton said. “From trailers, boats and miscellaneous hiding spots on vehicles, they use any way they can to move these drugs through the area without being detected.”
That is where police K-9s come in.
“If a drug trafficker is trying to conceal those drugs, they’re not going to allow us to search the vehicle without probable cause,” said Sgt. Brad Flowers with the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. “That’s a huge role the dog plays in the state of Alabama to give us that probable cause to search.”
Flowers is sergeant over TCSO K-9 training. Just like at the Tuscaloosa Police Department, the sheriff’s office uses dogs for various tasks including suspect apprehensions, bomb and drug detecting. In the case of drugs, without probable cause such as blatant smells of drugs or visible drugs or paraphernalia, law enforcement cannot search that vehicle.
But if a K-9 called onto the scene for an air check alerts to drugs, they now have probable cause.
“Just our dogs at the sheriff’s office — at least 25 times a month they are getting us into a car when we wouldn’t be able to do it,” Flowers said.
In the most recent case involving a TPD K-9, the dog was able to help agents locate cocaine despite being in a bag under a tire because even some of the most secretive and eluding hiding spots can’t fool a dog’s nose.
“Sometimes on really windy days, the odor travels to different areas of the vehicle,” Flowers said. “So the dog might locate a little further back, but they’re normally pretty close to where it will be found.”
The Chilton County man arrested Friday by the task force is charged with drug trafficking. He remains in jail on $2 million bond. If the man is released from jail, he will be put under house arrest with ankle monitoring surveillance, per a court order.