This article was originally published in The Examiner on Nov. 23, 2017.
By Eleanor Skelton
Staff Writer
A Canadian citizen was arrested with $3 million of cocaine just inside the Louisiana border on I-10, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Stephane Baril, a Quebec native, was arrested and booked
into the Calcasieu Parish Correctional Center after law enforcement discovered about 80 large bundles of cocaine in his truck during a traffic stop.
Baril’s arrest happened about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14 when Calcasieu Paris Corporal Chad Booth and Sergeant Allen Desormeaux, who both work on the Combined Anti-Drug Task Force turned on lights and sirens to pull over a 2017 pickup truck on I-10 eastbound near mile marker 14 for a traffic violation, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
During the traffic stop, Booth noticed that Baril seemed overly nervous and acting in a suspicious manner. After Booth gave Baril a ticket for the traffic violation, he asked permission to search the pickup truck. Baril gave the officers permission to search his truck and gave thm written consent.
Booth and Desomeaux found about 80 large bundles of compressed powder cocaine weighing 219.5 pounds, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office said. They estimated the street value of the cocaine to be over $3 million.
The bundles of cocaine were hidden in several luggage bags in the bed of the pickup truck.
Baril was arrested and charged with possession of more than 400 grams of cocaine. His bond has not yet been set, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office said.
Eleanor Skelton 