CHP seizes 37 pounds of cocaine on Highway 99 in Merced

A Washington woman was jailed Wednesday in Merced after a California Highway Patrol officer found 37 pounds of cocaine in her truck during a traffic stop, the CHP said.

A Merced-area CHP officer conducted a traffic stop on a 2006 Dodge Ram pickup for tinted windows about 2:30 p.m. near Highway 99 and Sandy Mush Road. The officer asked to search the vehicle, driven by 43-year-old Martha P. Pio of Tacoma, Wash., who consented, officials said in a news release.

A drug-sniffing dog found the cocaine in a hidden compartment in the truck, police said. The cocaine is valued at $300,000. The Merced Multi-Agency Narcotics Task Force assisted in the investigation, officers said.

Pio was booked at the Merced County jail for possession of cocaine for sale, transportation of cocaine and transportation of cocaine through nine counties. She is being held in the John Latoracca Correctional Facility on $2 million bail.

This story was originally published July 2, 2015 at 7:07 PM with the headline "CHP seizes 37 pounds of cocaine on Highway 99 in Merced."