Make California Post a Preferred Source A California driver’s story apparently had more twists than a crime thriller, but one four-legged cop wasn’t buying it.
The Alhambra Police Department announced Saturday that a routine traffic stop in Alhambra turned into a massive drug bust after police K9 Otis allegedly sniffed out roughly 200 kilos — about 440 pounds — of cocaine stuffed inside an SUV.
And before cops made the jaw-dropping discovery, police said the driver offered up a couple of explanations about why he was cruising around with an SUV overflowing with mysterious cardboard boxes.
Officers stopped the vehicle near Valley Boulevard and the 710 Freeway, though police did not disclose what prompted the initial traffic stop.
What they did notice was the staggering number of boxes crammed inside.
The department joked that the driver was hauling “more cardboard boxes than Amazon on Prime Day.”
Police said the driver, identified as Julio Rangel of Huntington Park, initially claimed he was simply heading home after visiting his cousin and insisted the mountain of boxes didn’t belong to him.
But apparently that story didn’t have much shelf life.
Police said Rangel later rolled out “version 2.0 of his lore,” telling officers he was actually transporting diesel parts to a shop owned by a friend. Then the police brought in the one officer who didn’t need to hear another explanation.
“Then came the nose that knows,” the department wrote.
K9 Otis and his handler arrived at the scene, where the police pup alerted to the SUV.
Officers searched the vehicle and allegedly discovered it wasn’t packed with diesel parts after all. Instead, authorities said that’s when they discovered the enormous amount of cocaine.
Rangel was arrested and booked into the Alhambra Police Department Jail, police said.
Otis, meanwhile, emerged as the undisputed star of the bust, earning some well-deserved praise from his human colleagues.
“A round of a-paws for our good boy, K9 Otis,” the department quipped.
Social media users were equally impressed with the crime-fighting canine.
“Doggone it! Give that dog a bone!!!!!” one commenter wrote.
Others thought Otis deserved more than treats for his work.
“Can Otis get a promotion to Chief?” one user joked.
No word on whether Otis will be getting a shiny new badge, but after allegedly sniffing out hundreds of pounds of cocaine while a suspect’s story kept changing, he may at least be owed an extra-large bag of treats.
