DOJ, CHP, Customs Seize More than 650 Pounds of Cocaine

Drugs to be displayed from 1:00 - 3:00 pm today in San Francisco BNE office

Monday, March 15, 1999
Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

SAN FRANCISCO - Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced today that agents from the California Department of Justice (DOJ) Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE) San Francisco regional office, working with the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and United States Customs, arrested one individual and seized more than 650 pounds of cocaine with a street value of more than $24 million.

David Allen Harp, 52, a truck driver from Westley (Stanislaus County) was arrested after the cocaine was discovered inside of a motorhome that he was driving. Harp was the subject of an investigation and under surveillance by BNE agents on Saturday in Westley when he was stopped by a CHP officer for a vehicle code violation. Harp gave officers permission to search the vehicle, then attempted to flee the scene. He was quickly located, arrested, and taken into custody. Officers and agents searching the motorhome discovered the cocaine packaged in 14 cardboard boxes.

This is one of the largest seizures of cocaine ever by law enforcement in Northern California, and comes at a time when San Francisco ranks in the top three areas in the nation for hospital emergency room admissions resulting from cocaine overdoses, according to the most recent federal Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) report.

Harp is being held at the Stanislaus County Jail. The cocaine will be displayed at the San Francisco BNE office, 2720 Taylor Street, Suite 300 (corner of Beech and Taylor) from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm today.

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