State troopers say a routine traffic stop on Interstate 684 in Lewisboro turned into a major drug bust on the evening of March 24, when they uncovered an electronically operated hidden compartment packed with narcotics. The driver, 36-year-old John Williams of the Bronx, and the passenger, 48-year-old Jorge L. Centeno of Brooklyn, were arrested and booked on multiple felony drug charges. Investigators with the New York State Police say they recovered about two kilograms of cocaine, several individually packaged amounts of crack cocaine and roughly 28 grams of fentanyl during the search.
Traffic stop, K-9 alert and seizure
According to Daily Voice, troopers initially pulled the car over around 6:30 p.m. for traffic violations. A consent search followed, and troopers say that is when they found an electronically operated “trap” built into the vehicle. A State Police K-9 gave a positive alert on the car, which triggered a deeper search that, according to investigators, turned up the bulk cocaine, the packaged crack and the fentanyl.
Daily Voice reports that Williams and Centeno were arraigned in North Castle Court and remanded to the Westchester County Jail following the stop.
Troop K has used the same tactics before
New York State Police press releases show that Troop K’s Community Stabilization Unit and K-9 teams regularly rely on exterior sniffs and probable-cause searches to uncover electronic hiding spots in vehicles. In a 2025 release, Troop K described another case in which a K-9 alerted troopers, who then located an electronically operated compartment and recovered cocaine, fentanyl and other controlled substances from inside. That history helps explain how troopers say they zeroed in on the hidden compartment during the Lewisboro stop. New York State Police
Why fentanyl mixed with cocaine is worrying
Federal agencies have been warning that fentanyl is increasingly slipping into stimulant supplies, including cocaine, which means what looks like a familiar purchase can suddenly become a medical emergency. The DEA’s 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment cites NFLIS lab data indicating that roughly one in four cocaine submissions also contained fentanyl, a combination that sharply raises overdose risk when narcotics are pressed or mixed together. That national backdrop adds extra urgency to local traffic-stop busts that pull mixed loads of cocaine and fentanyl off the road. DEA
Legal stakes…