Ink toners were boxed, wrapped — and filled with $2 million worth of meth, TX cops say

A traffic stop in Texas turned up several “new” ink toner cartridges that were filled with a little something extra — and illegal, police say.

A sergeant with the Fayette County Sheriff’s canine unit pulled over a Volkswagen SUV around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday after the driver committed a traffic violation, police said in a news release.

The sergeant spoke with the driver and began to suspect the SUV was being used to transport drugs, according to police.

After getting consent to search the vehicle, the sergeant directed Kolt, a police dog, to sweep the SUV. Kolt soon alerted the sergeant to the presence of drugs inside the car, police said.

The sergeant then found 10 ink toner cartridges inside, described as “new in the box.”

Photos show them in Lexmark boxes wrapped with plastic.

However, the cartridges weren’t just filled with ink toner. They were loaded with roughly 58 pounds of meth — which has an estimated street value of $2.7 million.

A photo shows a white powdery substance in one cartridge’s compartment.

The driver of the vehicle — Alvaro Barrera, 49 — was arrested and charged with felony drug possession, police said.

Fayette County is roughly 70 miles southeast of Austin.

This story was originally published February 7, 2021 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Ink toners were boxed, wrapped — and filled with $2 million worth of meth, TX cops say."