Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
A drug bust that started with an investigation in Lower Bucks County netted $1 million with of drugs.
Pennsylvania State Police troopers from the drug unit were called to a shipping business on State Road in Bensalem Friday morning after it was reported a suspicious 195 pound wooden crate was at the facility. According to court papers, the crate displayed numerous “characteristics of criminal activity and narcotics trafficking.”
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State police say Kevin Martin, 55, of the East Mount Airy section of Philadelphia, came to the freight company and signed for the crate. The crate was then loaded into a white 2013 Ford U-Haul van and Martin drove off with undercover surveillance units tailing, according to authorities.
A trooper initiated a traffic stop on southbound I-95 in Philadelphia after undercover units observed numerous traffic violations.
According to state police, Martin appeared “extremely nervous and very talkative” when the trooper was speaking with him. Martin handed a copy of the shipping paperwork to the trooper and was cleared to leave, court papers say.
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Before he drove off, the trooper came back and asked Martin if he could search the U-Haul; he agreed.
Once the crate was opened, police found green bubble wrap and two cardboard boxes. Hidden in the packing material of one box investigators uncovered a large brick-shaped object that was initial test confirmed to be a kilogram of cocaine, court papers report.
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The van was towed back to the state police barrack in Trevose and nine other kilograms of suspected cocaine were found inside the van.
The 10 kilograms of suspected cocaine have an estimated street value of $1 million.
The suspected cocaine will be sent to the state police crime lab for further confirmation.
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Martin is charged with manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver; criminal use of a communication facility; possession of drug paraphernalia and other offenses. He was arraigned at 8 p.m. Friday evening before Penndel District Judge Daniel Baranoski and held on 10 percent of $2 million bail.
Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
