A Tennessee couple hauling $3.4 million worth of cocaine was killed in a shootout with police following a traffic stop in the Texas Panhandle, according to authorities.
The couple, whom police identified as Edward and Elizabeth Stevenson, had been under investigation by the Putnam County Sherriff’s Office drug unit in Cookeville, Tennessee, for selling illegal drugs. On May 9, a search warrant was issued after undercover officers purchased drugs from the duo.
Detectives searched the couple’s home, where they found three-fourths of a pound of suspected methamphetamine, suspected fentanyl, body armor, multiple firearms, and ammunition, police said.
During their search, detectives learned that Mr. and Mrs. Stevenson were driving a semi-truck with illegal drugs through Texas and that they were both armed.
Both individuals had also made previous statements that they would die by “suicide by cop” if law enforcement attempted to stop them, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release on May 13.
The detectives notified the Texas Department of Public Safety and Donley County Sheriff’s Office and began working to locate the pair.
On May 10, they were spotted on Texas State Highway 70 in the Texas Panhandle, where officers with the Donley County Sheriff’s Office attempted to stop them in Clarendon at around 3 p.m.
Mr. Stevenson refused to pull over, and a chase ensued for several miles. During the pursuit, Mrs. Stevenson fired at authorities, according to police.
The semi-truck exited Highway 70 onto Interstate 40, where state troopers laid down spikes that brought the truck to a stop, local news outlets reported.
After exiting the vehicle, the couple began firing at the state troopers and sheriff’s deputies, who returned fire, killing them.
Donley County Sheriff deputies, state troopers, and the Texas Rangers searched the vehicle, where they found and seized 29 kilos, approximately 64 pounds, of suspected cocaine with a street value of about $3.4 million, police said.
Border Crisis
Authorities believe the couple had picked up the drugs from the Texas-Mexico border to transport back to Putnam County and the Upper Cumberland area in Tennessee.“This was great work by the PCSO Drug Unit to take down a massive illegal drug operation here in Putnam County,” Sheriff Farris said. “This is a direct result of the Nation’s Open Border Policies, which [makes] it much easier for Mexican cartel members and their associates to bring in these illegal drugs into smaller communities and, in this case, Putnam County,” he added.
Earlier this month, CBP officers reported multiple drug seizures at ports of entry in El Paso, Texas, including 11.2 pounds of fentanyl concealed in a vehicle driven by a 26-year-old Mexican man.
In a separate seizure on April 30, authorities at the Bridge of the Americas seized more than 42.5 pounds of cocaine concealed in a vehicle driven by a 48-year-old male U.S. citizen, according to a news release. CBP officers also seized nearly 71 pounds of cocaine in two more operations during the same week.
“The drugs seized by our CBP workforce will not cause harm in the communities we share,” said Hector Mancha, director of field operations at CBP El Paso, in a statement. “We are hard at work every day utilizing multiple tools to identify and stop those who attempt to circumvent our inspection process.”
During fiscal year 2023, which runs from October to September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized more than 549,000 pounds of illegal drugs.
To date, more than 273,000 pounds of drugs have been seized by border patrol agents for FY 2024, according to the latest CBP data, including more than 32,000 pounds of cocaine, over 10,000 pounds of fentanyl, and nearly 95,000 pounds of methamphetamine.
