By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



The Jefferson County Sheriff’s office made a record drug bust over the weekend.

According to a press release from the sheriff’s office, Saturday’s seizure of 265 pounds of cocaine is the biggest cocaine bust in Jefferson County history and one of the largest seizures in the state.

The bust occurred when a sheriff’s office highway safety unit officer stopped a tractor trailer truck heading north on Interstate 65, near the Walker Chapel Road exit.

The deputy reportedly sensed something suspicious about the truck. Sgt. Randy Christian of the sheriff’s office said the deputy noticed a false wall that was built into the sleeping quarters, hiding the drugs.

Christian attributed the deputy’s discovery of the hidden compartment to his Department of Transportation training.

The driver, 44-year-old Jose Luis Magana of Edinburg, Tex., was then arrested on charges of trafficking in cocaine. As of Tuesday, Magana remained in the Jefferson County Jail on a $1 million bond.

A press release from the sheriff’s office said it is believed the cocaine was en route to the northeast where it would have likely been turned into crack cocaine. The street value of the confiscated drugs was estimated to be $7.2 million.

Christian said drug runners take drugs to different areas of the country. “From there, the drugs are distributed back out to hit the streets of our country, and yes, we think the chances that a lot of it ends up back here in our county is very likely,” he said.

About $21 million in drugs and drug money have been taken off the county’s interstates since the highway safety unit’s inception in 2005, Christian said. The team was recognized nationally in 2005 as the highway safety unit team of the year and again in 2007 for drug bust of the year.

“We think this is great work that deserves the recognition it is receiving,” Christian said. “The people in this county have great reason to be proud of their deputies. It is an extraordinary job they are doing and Sheriff [Mike] Hale is so proud of them.”