COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. – Thirty kilos of cocaine — estimated at $4.5 million ― were intercepted during a joint operation between deputies in Columbia County and Lowndes County, Georgia.
Hector Villarreal, 37, of Pasadena, Texas, was arrested on a trafficking charge that could send him to prison for decades if convicted.
Federal investigators said the drugs were discovered during a traffic stop on Interstate 75 in Lake City near the Interstate 10 exchange.
Villarreal was pulled over after deputies said he failed to maintain a lane.
During a news conference, investigators said deputies picked up on several red flags that led them to suspect he was trafficking drugs.
“They observed that his hands were visibly trembling, and his chest was moving up and down so rapidly that a deputy asked if he was having a medical emergency. He was not,” Florida Middle District U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg said.
Investigators said more red flags were raised when Villarreal could not remember who he was renting his SUV from.
Also, after embarking on a drive that would take between 16 and 18 hours on the road to complete, investigators said Villareal told deputies he was only planning to stay in Hains City for a few days.
“After Mr. Villarreal consented to a request to search his vehicle, three large and heavy Home Depot cardboard boxes were found. The boxes were taped, and they smelled like Lysol. A can of Lysol was found under the passenger seat of the vehicle,” Handberg said.
Lysol is commonly used to hide the scent of illegal drugs.
“But it doesn’t impact the ability of a drug detection K9 to find drugs. And that’s what happened in this case,” Handberg said.
Columbia County Sheriff Mark Hunter said the county has seized “different amounts over the years,” but this incident needed to be “highlighted.”
“Cocaine kills people. This is thousands of dosage units that were intercepted before they could be, as the sheriff said, broken up and distributed all the different ways,” Handberg said.
In addition to preventing overdose deaths, investigators said seizing a large amount of cocaine could help reduce gun violence on the streets.
“That is a valuable product. That is something individuals are going to want to protect, and we have seen it in our cases. Armed drug trafficking is a top priority,” Handberg said.
Villarreal was already on federal probation for an illegal narcotics conviction in Texas.
He is now sitting in jail on a $10 million bond.