May 22, 2025

Routine I-40 stop leads troopers to major drug bust

Steve Smith

Routine I-40 stop leads troopers to major drug bust

On the afternoon of May 19, Arkansas State Police stopped a commercial truck on I-40 eastbound near mile marker 75 and made a large drug bust.

The details: Troopers found four boxes in the cab. Inside were 36 pounds of fentanyl and 86 pounds of cocaine. The truck was traveling from Los Angeles to Memphis.

Claude Bell, a 56-year-old driver from California, was arrested at the scene.
Police said the seized fentanyl could make about 150,000 deadly doses.
Bell faces 21 counts related to cocaine and 21 counts related to fentanyl. He is now in DEA custody.

What they're saying: “Removing over 36 pounds of Fentanyl from our communities will save an untold number of lives,” said ASP Colonel Mike Hagar.

The truck was stopped around 2 p.m., and authorities say the bust may save lives along the I-40 corridor.

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