HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Pennsylvania State Police seized thousands of bags of suspected drugs from a vehicle during a traffic stop on the PA Turnpike.
The Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office says troopers were monitoring turnpike traffic in Hempfield Township on Thursday.
Troopers noticed a vehicle traveling west and making several traffic violations, so they initiated a stop, the office says.
The driver, Gerard Polanco-Peralta, of New Jersey, allegedly displayed several indicators of criminal activity.
Polanco-Peralta allowed troopers to search the vehicle, where they found a bag filled with about 800 bricks, or 40,000 baggies, of suspected fentanyl, the office says.
The drugs reportedly have an approximate street value of more than $80,000.
Online court records show Polanco-Peralta is facing drug-related charges. He’s being held in the Westmoreland County Prison and has been denied bail.
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