‘Overwhelming odor of air fresheners’ didn’t keep Kansas trooper from finding cocaine

The smell of air fresheners didn’t keep a state trooper from finding two bags of drugs behind the driver’s seat of a pickup headed to Wichita.

The traffic stop led to a woman pleading guilty in federal court to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and being sentenced Tuesday to nearly four years in prison.

Dora Elizabeth Arteaga admitted in a plea deal that a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper pulled her over April 14 in Meade County. The traffic stop was for a lane violation of driving left of center, though the trooper noticed Arteaga’s black Ford pickup slowed from 65 mph down to 54 mph after seeing the patrol vehicle.

Arteaga handed the trooper her Guatemalan ID card, and the trooper “could see and smell the overwhelming odor of air fresheners,” the court document states. After writing her a ticket, the cop was given consent to search the truck.

He found two bags behind the driver’s seat, and a laboratory test determined the substance was cocaine. Combined, the drugs in the two bags weighed about 2 kilograms, or about 4.4 pounds. Arteaga told the KHP trooper she was taking the drugs from Phoenix to Wichita in return for money.

Court documents did not provide the purity or the estimated street value of the seized drugs.

A Drug Enforcement Administration report lists the price per gram of pure cocaine as $160 in 2017, the most recent year available. At that price, 2 kilograms would be worth $320,000. However, the price of drugs varies due to many factors, including whether it has been cut with other chemicals.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office previously said the Arteaga, who was 42 years old at the time she was indicted, was from Houston. Court documents show she was sentenced to 45 months in federal prison with four years of supervised release.

This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 3:59 PM.