Crime & Safety
Cocaine Found In Karaoke Machine; No It’s Not A Clapton Song
Kolt, a K-9 officer who works a busy Laredo-to-Houston drug trafficking corridor, sniffed out 7.5 kilos of cocaine in a karaoke machine.
FLATONIA, TX — The karaoke machine in the back seat of an SUV a Fayette County, Texas, police officer stopped Wednesday along a notoriously busy drug trafficking corridor revealed more than a sing-along track of rocker Eric Clapton’s anti-drug anthem, “Cocaine.”
Authorities found six bundles, or 7.5 kilos, of the real thing stuffed inside a karaoke speaker box. The cocaine had an estimated street value of $750,000
The K-9 officer Kolt sniffed out the white powder after Sgt. Randy Thumann stopped a black Chevy Avalanche he “had a strong suspicion … was being used to transport illegal narcotics from Laredo to Houston,” the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Find out what's happening in Houstonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Both the driver, 34-year-old Sandra Degarza Mendiola, and her passenger, 37-year-old Alifonso Garza, both of Loredo, were arrested and booked at the Dan R. Beck Justice Center on felony charges of possession of a controlled substance, the release said.
The haul was fairly small compared to the Belgain malinois dog’s other drug detections, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office told Patch. Interstate 10, which cuts through Fayette County, is considered one of the busiest drug-trafficking corridors in the country, according to a report by news station WOAI.
Find out what's happening in Houstonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“It’s a direct route from Mexico to all the major hubs throughout the country so it’s utilized by many types of criminals,” Thumann told the news station last year.
Kolt has been a K-9 officer for the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office since January 2019, and already has sniffed out millions of dollars in illegal drugs, including a hit on $2 million worth of cocaine in July, news station KVUE reported.
“He is special,” Thumann told WOAI last year. “I think there is something special about him to, you know, learn at such an early age and so fast. He’s developing really quickly.”
Without Kolt, more illegal drugs would make it into the U.S. market, Thumann said.
“Sometimes it’s because of him that I’m even able to get inside the vehicle so without him, I think those vehicles would get by,” Thumann told WOAI.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
