180 pounds of cocaine seized in large-scale drug trafficking investigation in Pittsburgh area
Two men are facing charges after authorities said they seized about 180 pounds of cocaine as part of a large-scale drug trafficking investigation in the Pittsburgh area.
Darnell Rhinehart and Lamar Lewis were arrested on drug and firearms charges after FBI Pittsburgh said law enforcement seized 80 kilograms of cocaine on Monday night.
The FBI said investigators watched Rhinehart on video surveillance loading multiple brown cardboard boxes from a tractor-trailer into the bed of his vehicle on Monday afternoon, arriving and leaving within just two minutes.
Authorities said they tracked Rhinehart to a Pittsburgh bar several hours later and watched as Lewis parked his pickup truck near Rhinehart's vehicle and took four brown cardboard boxes. Lewis then placed a heavy bag in Rhinehart's vehicle before driving away, the FBI said.
A traffic stop on Lewis' vehicle turned up 50 kilograms of cocaine as well as a loaded 9mm semi-automatic pistol that was later confirmed as stolen, investigators said.
Authorities continued trailing Rhinehart, who was later seen picking up a red backpack from a home before driving to another Pittsburgh bar. He walked into the bar with the bag and left without it, the FBI said, and when authorities arrested Rhinehart, they found 5 kilograms of cocaine in the backpack.
Several more searches at locations associated with Rhinehart turned up 35 more kilograms of cocaine in cardboard boxes as well as "large sums" of cash and a shotgun, the FBI said.
"Seizing 80 kilos of cocaine means taking away profits and the power that money can buy right out of the hands of international criminal organizations," FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Richard Evanchec said in a news release. "Shipments like this represent money flowing right back to groups that rule through violence and fear. Cocaine trafficking is not a victimless crime, and the FBI and our partners will use every tool at our disposal to keep ridding our communities of these deadly narcotics."
