Investigators said 80 kg of cocaine were confiscated in Pittsburgh as part of a large-scale drug trafficking investigation.
According to the FBI, Darnell Rhinehart and Lamar Lewis have been arrested in connection with this investigation. They are both charged with possessing five kilograms or more of cocaine with the intent to distribute, as well as possessing a pistol and ammunition as a convicted criminal.
According to officials, investigators traced Rhinehart and watched video of him meeting with a tractor-trailer at an unnamed site on Monday, then loading many cardboard boxes from the truck into his vehicle. He arrived and left the location in two minutes.
Hours later, FBI investigators and Pennsylvania State Police officers located Rhinehart at a Pittsburgh bar. Lewis reportedly drove to the same bar, parked near Rhinehart’s vehicle, and then removed four cardboard boxes from Rhinehart’s vehicle and loaded them into his truck.
According to investigators, Lewis put what seemed to be a hefty bag into Rhinehart’s vehicle before driving away.
Later that nite, police halted Lewis’ vehicle and discovered 40 kilograms of cocaine packed in cardboard boxes, as well as a loaded 9mm stolen semi-automatic weapon.
Investigators were also keeping an eye on Rhinehart, who was seen picking up a red rucksack at a home in an unidentified area before heading to another Pittsburgh pub. He entered the bar with the bag, but exited without it.
The FBI claims that at this point, detectives detained Rhinehart. At the time of Rhinehart’s arrest, five kilograms of cocaine were discovered in his rucksack, and searches at several other places yielded 35 additional kilograms of cocaine secreted in cardboard boxes. Investigators said they also discovered substantial sums of cash and a shotgun.
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