The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) seized more than 34 pounds of heroin Tuesday after a Texas Highway Patrol Trooper stopped a vehicle in Carson County.
At approximately 1:44 p.m., a DPS trooper stopped a Dodge van traveling east on IH-40 near Conway, for a traffic violation. The trooper then discovered 11 tape-wrapped packages of heroin underneath the floor of the van. The drugs are valued at approximately $4.3 million.
The driver, Pelaga Malakatas, 32, of Bellport, N.Y., was arrested and charged with felony possession of a controlled substance. Malakatas was transported and booked into the Carson County jail.
The illegal drugs were allegedly being transported from Phoenix to Medford, N.Y.
(News release from the Texas DPS in Amarillo)