Louisiana State Police made a traffic stop on I-12 in Covington on Monday, May 2, 2022 around 6:20am.
A 2005 Peterbilt 387 was headed eastbound on Interstate-12 in St. Tammany Parish. During the traffic stop, troopers had reason to believe there was possible criminal activity. It’s why they requested consent to search the vehicle. After consent to search was approved, troopers found and seized 55 kilograms of suspected cocaine.
The street value of this amount of cocaine is estimated at $5.5 million. After discovering the illegal narcotics, troopers arrested Melvin Contreras, 32, of Mount Vernon, NY, and Pedro Sarante, 40, of New York, NY, for drug-related charges.
Troopers followed up with federal partners at the Department of Homeland Security and the case has been referred to federal authorities. Both Contreras and Sarante were booked into the St. Tammany Parish Jail.
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