Tip leads to cocaine bust on I-76 in Deuel County

A driver is in custody after allegedly trying to transport cocaine from Colorado into Nebraska – in the gas tank door of his car.

Dennis Chad Smartt-Mead, 23 of North Platte, was booked on charges of possession of cocaine and taken to the Cheyenne County Jail. He was schedule for his first court hearing on Monday, but that was continued to Oct. 14.

Nebraska State Troopers said they had received a tip that a car was possibly transporting drugs into the state on Sept. 18. After the trooper noticed a car and a driver matching the description about four hours later, he followed the car eastbound on I-76, according to court documents.

The trooper said the vehicle failed to signal a lane change and was speeding in a construction zone, so he conducted a traffic stop in Deuel County.

According to court documents, the driver said he had rented the car to take his ex-girlfriend’s dog back to her in Colorado and that both he and his passenger, Richard Valentine, had gone to a strip club in Denver the night before.

State troopers asked for consent to search the car, and Smartt-Mead gave that consent, court documents said. A narcotics K9 unit was called to the scene and a plastic baggie containing a white powder was discovered inside the gas tank door. A narcotics test at the scene gave a positive indication for cocaine. A bag with $2,500 cash was also found in the car.

Court documents show that the weight of the baggie of cocaine was 1.14 ounces.