LSO: Vehicle found stuffed with 117 pounds of meth in north Lincoln traffic stop

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Two Minnesota men were arrested Thursday after deputies found over 100 pounds of meth in their car in north Lincoln, the sheriff’s office says.

Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said members of the agency’s criminal interdiction unit pulled over a pickup truck for following too close on Interstate 80 near the North 27th Street exit.

When deputies approached the vehicle, they noticed an open container of alcohol in the pickup.  They were then given consent to search inside, Houchin said.

During the search, deputies found 117 pounds of methamphetamine throughout the vehicle.

“If there was a void, there was methamphetamine packed in that car,” Houchin said.

The men inside the car, 35-year-old Ever Abimael Cano Ruacho and 34-year-old Jimmie Collazo Jr., were arrested on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance.

Houchin said this is one of the biggest drug busts the criminal interdiction unit has had since its startup in 2012.

The street value of the drugs is estimated at $5.3 million, Houchin said.