Photo: Lancaster County Sheriff's Office
(Lancaster County, NE) -- Nearly two million dollars worth of during are found during a Lancaster County traffic stop.
The Lancaster County Sheriff's Office says just before 10:00 Wednesday morning, members of the Lancaster County Criminal Interdiction Unit stopped a motor home on I-80 for driving on the shoulder. Investigators say during that traffic stop, a trained narcotics detection dog was deployed around the exterior of the vehicle. The Sheriff's Office says the K-9 indicated on the odor of narcotics which led to a search of the vehicle. LSO says the fuel tank of the motor home showed signs of having been tampered with.
The Sheriff's Office says an examination of the inside of the tank revealed 60-1 lb. vacuum sealed bags of methamphetamine, 2.16 lbs. of heroin, .58 lbs of Fentanyl. Investigators say a more in-depth search of the vehicle revealed three firearms; a 9mm pistol reported stolen in Minnesota in January 2022, a .22 caliber revolver, and a Taurus .380 caliber pistol.
Both the driver, 60 year old John Kirchner of St, Paul, Minnesota, and the passenger 30 year old Wesley Stayberg of Hudson, Wisconsin, are both convicted felons and prohibited from possessing firearms. Investigators say Stayberg began feeling ill during the contact and admitted to consuming 1 gram of heroin that he had on his person. The Sheriff's Office says Stayberg began to lose consciousness, was administered NARCAN and taken to the hospital. After treatment he was transported to jail.
LSO says the street value of the narcotics is approximately $1,632,931 worth of Meth, $148,923 of Heroin, and $36,831 worth of Fentayl. Both men were arrested on charges of Possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver Meth, heroin, Fentanyl; Possession of a firearm while committing a felony drug violation, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, 3 counts of evading drug tax. In addition, Stayberg was charged with Tampering with Evidence.
1 of 2 Photo: Lancaster County Sheriff's Office
2 of 2 Photo: Lancaster County Sheriff's Office