A 68-year-old El Paso, Texas man is being held without release in DeKalb County after a sheriff’s deputy pulled his Toyota Tacoma over for a lane-change violation and allegedly found more than 25 pounds of cocaine hidden beneath the rear passenger seat. Joel Martinez now faces Class X felony trafficking charges that could send him to prison for up to 30 years if convicted.
The stop happened on August 22 along Annie Glidden Road south of Fairview Drive near Interstate 88, according to court records cited by the Daily Chronicle. A deputy noticed Martinez failing to signal properly while changing lanes and driving slower than surrounding traffic, and also flagged a nonworking driver-side headlight on the truck. A K-9 officer responded to the scene that same day, and deputies later found the drugs by drilling into a hidden compartment under the rear passenger seat, per court records.
Deputies recovered the cocaine broken into 10 duct-taped packages, according to local radio outlet 102.3 The Coyote, which reported the packages were discovered during a search back at the sheriff’s office. Bulk cocaine in that quantity can carry a wholesale and street value ranging from $350,000 to more than $1 million depending on purity, according to federal drug seizure valuation data from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
A Story About Pottery That Didn’t Add Up
Martinez told authorities he was transporting pottery for a friend’s business on Chicago’s North Side, but said he did not know the specific address he was driving to, per the Daily Chronicle’s report. He also gave an address different from the one listed on his driver’s license, a detail deputies noted in building their case against him…