Police seize $4.8M in drugs hidden in truck's wheels during traffic stop

AUSTIN, Texas (KEYE) - Nearly $5 million worth of cocaine, meth and heroin were found in a truck during a traffic stop on Interstate 35 in South Austin last week.

According to the arrest affidavit, the driver of the vehicle, 43-year-old Armando Martinez, of Weslaco, is charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, a first-degree felony.

It happened Tuesday, July 10, in the northbound lanes of I-35 just south of the Slaughter Lane intersection.

An Austin police officer initiated a traffic stop on a pickup truck because it was speeding and did not have a front license plate. The officer became suspicious after talking to Martinez and noticed his nervous demeanor, court documents said.

The officer asked for permission to search the truck, and Martinez granted it, the affidavit said. A K-9 with the department, Raggio, was used in the search and it alerted to the vehicle's tires.

Inside the rims of the tires, officers found several metal boxes that contained a total of 82 pounds of cocaine, 50 pounds of methamphetamine and 6 pounds of heroin.