The Region - News from Sept. 9, 1987
A traffic stop on an Imperial County desert highway turned into a huge cocaine bust when a California Highway Patrol officer found 770 pounds of the drug hidden in a flat-bed truck, authorities said. The truck’s driver was stopped on Interstate 8 near Winterhaven for driving erratically, the CHP said. Officer Steven Roberson noticed packaging materials sticking out through an opening under the truck’s bed. Further inspection revealed the false compartment in which the cocaine, packaged in plastic bags, was hidden, Alfonzo said. The driver, Rafael Castillo Sierra, 26, of Ciudad Morales, Mexico, was booked into Imperial County jail in El Centro for investigation of various drug-related charges. Bail was set at $2 million.
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