Trafficking arrest nets 45 kilos of cocaine

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LOXLEY, Alabama — Baldwin County Sheriff’s deputies arrested two California men after finding 45 kilograms of cocaine in a tractor trailer headed eastbound on Interstate 10 near the Baldwin Beach Express Exit on Wednesday, Nov. 20.

According to a release issued Thursday by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, Special Operation Unit Deputies conducted a traffic stop on a tractor trailer near the 49-mile marker on I-10 Wednesday.

During a consensual search of the tractor and trailer, Deputies located personal use amounts of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. A further search revealed approximately 45 kilograms of cocaine secreted within a natural void on the trailer.

“The shipment originated in California and was destined for central Florida,” according to the release.

Deputies arrested the driver and co-driver, identified as 60-year-old Mauro Lopez of Riverside, California, and 53-year-old Jose Encines of Anaheim, California.

Both men were transported to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office Correnctions Center where they were booked on charges of drug trafficking, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both are in jail without bond. The tractor and trailer were seized.