Cocaine, cash seized in 1-70 traffic stops

RICHFIELD — The Utah Highway Patrol made a pair of drug busts three miles apart from each other on a stretch of Interstate-70.

UHP troopers first stopped a PT Cruiser on Friday afternoon headed from southern California to Michigan. During the stop, the UHP said the trooper became suspicious of their stories, and asked to search the car.

"He found on the floor of the back part of the vehicle, there was a compartment that ran from the rear bumper all the way under the driver's seat," UHP Trooper Cameron Roden said Tuesday. "Inside, there was 34 kilos of cocaine."

A 27-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman were booked into the Sevier County Jail on drug charges.

About 9 p.m. Friday, troopers stopped a rented Ford Expedition with two men from Toronto inside. The trooper became suspicious when the men gave conflicting stories about their travels. During a search, the UHP said the trooper found $500,000 in cash hidden in a compartment in the car.

Both men denied any knowledge of the money, Roden said, and they ultimately were released. The UHP seized the cash as evidence.