Racine County drug arrest on I-94; cocaine valued at $110K

RACINE, Wis. - A Racine County traffic stop on Interstate 94 led to $110,000 worth of illegal drugs taken from one driver Tuesday, June 7.

If it wasn't for the nose of one K-9, a secret compartment would not have been found. What was inside that compartment could have killed people.

"This would have been an average traffic stop, no big deal – no front plate, illegal tint, give you your tickets – boom, you are on your way," said Lt. Michael Luell with the Racine County Sheriff's Office.

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That wasn't the case. The driver, identified as Ramone Locke of Milwaukee, refused to get out of the car, which started to raise some red flags to deputies.

"In approximately five seconds, the K-9 instantly alerts," Luell said.

K-9 Zeke searches Ramone Locke's vehicle during traffic stop

K-9 Zeke got to work, and quickly let his handler know something wasn't good. At first, deputies were not sure what was inside.

"He pulled out his knife, and on his knife was a white powdery substance consistent with some type of controlled substance," said Luell.

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Locke was arrested. His car was impounded, and the sheriff's office searched it.

"Just through taking the car apart, we did find four large bags of white powdery substance of cocaine which was laced with fentanyl which had a total weight of about two kilograms," Luell said.

Two kilos of cocaine confiscated by Racine County Sheriff's Office

Authorities aren't taking it lightly.

"We don’t look at this simply a drug case. This is a deadly substance, so these are potential homicide cases," said Luell.

Locke, 35, is in jail and will likely face both state and federal charges. The Racine County Metro Drug Unit is taking over the investigation.

Ramone Locke

As for the secret compartment found in Locke's car, the sheriff's office said they took pictures of it and will be using it for training purposes.

Statement from Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling:

"I am extremely proud of the work done by the deputies involved in this case.  From a simple traffic stop, the deputy performed an interview of the driver who gave answers that aroused the deputy’s suspicions.  The back-up deputy used K9 Zeke to establish probable cause of the presence of contraband, and the deputies thoroughly and meticulously searched the vehicle – ultimately defeating a sophisticated trap compartment to locate the fentanyl laced cocaine.  I have grave concerns that a person facing such serious charges was out on the streets peddling nearly four-and-a-half pounds of this poison.  It is impossible to measure the number of lives saved by these deputies, but I do know that fentanyl poisoning is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45, and over 107,000 Americans died of overdoses last year alone.  These are not just drug cases; these are potential homicides!"