Police: State trooper had 60 pounds of cocaine in car

November 25, 2008 - 8:10 AM

Ildefonso Ortiz

The Brownsville Herald

BROWNVSILLE — Ringing true the adage of being at the right place at the right time, police officers arrested a Texas State Trooper on Saturday morning as he was allegedly finishing a drug deal, Brownsville Police Sgt. Jimmy Manrrique said on Monday.

Police arrested Jesus Rafael Larrazolo, 35, a four-year veteran of the Texas Department of Public Safety, at 10 a.m. in the parking lot of Best Buy as he was loading his car with more than 60 pounds of cocaine after having purchased the drugs in front of officers, Manrrique said.

A group of detectives from the Special Investigations Unit were conducting routine surveillance in the Pablo Kisel area, when they noticed suspicious activity in the parking lot of the store located at 2701 Pablo Kisel, Manrrique said.

“We’ve had a series of automobile burglaries in the area,” Manrrique said. “It just happened that they were at the right place at the right time and saw this activity.”

The spokesman said detectives noticed Larrazolo exchanging words with an unknown individual, then carry two suitcases toward his vehicle. As the police officers approached him, the suspect immediately identified himself as a DPS trooper and displayed his credentials.

“He was armed at the time,” Manrrique said.

Further search of the suitcases led the detectives to 26 bricks of cocaine weighing 61.38 pounds with a trading value of $546,000 and a local per gram street value totaling $1.64 million.

“In this area there is a lot of drug traffic as the drugs make their way north. This is a corridor,” Manrrique said. “It is safe to say that this amount would have increased in value if it had gone north. The important thing is we were able to keep these drugs off the streets.”

Further details of the incident are not being disclosed because of the ongoing investigation, which law enforcement officers hope will lead to more arrests.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Larrazolo was being detained without bond until a preliminary examination hearing on Wednesday. If convicted, the suspect faces a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life.