Clarksville Police seize $3 million in cash and drugs with ties to cartel

Two men have been arrested in what police are calling one of the biggest drug busts in all of Indiana's history.

Thursday, November 15th 2018, 2:34 PM EST

Updated: Thursday, November 15th 2018, 3:22 PM EST
By Gil Corsey
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Anthony Sansone and Keegan Smith, along with $1.7 million in cash seized by police.

CLAKRSVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- Police in Clarksville Indiana are celebrating one of their largest drug busts ever, with $3 million in drugs and drug money taken off the streets.


On Thursday morning, showed pictures of the evidence piled on tables for everyone to see: $1.7 million in cash, 150 pounds of marijuana and 15,000 e-cigarettes laced with THC.

All of it was seized in a massive raid with direct ties to a Mexican drug cartel according to investigators.

Police say 27-year-old Matthew Sansone would fly into Louisville from Florida, and meet a van driven from California at storage warehouses, such as the Storage Express on Highway 44 in Mt. Washington.



There, police say 20-year-old Keegan Smith would show up at the storage facility with a team, pick up what had been dropped off and take it to dealers in the Corbin, Kentucky, area.

Police began conducting surveillance on the operation in June. They say the drops occurred at least once a month, and it all collapsed when the courier van from California was stopped in southern Indiana in Clark County. That's when police found the $1.7 million in cash, stashed in locked crates.

That led to the raid at the storage unit, and the arrest of Sansone, who was staying at the Omni Hotel in downtown Louisville.

"This is not just marijuana," said Cpt. Joel DeMoss of Clarksville Police Department's Narcotics Unit. "This is marijuana on steroids, okay? This is some of the most potent marijuana that we've seen on the streets ever. The concentrated form ... has some of the highest THC that we've ever seen. And for this getting into our schools here in our community and down in Corbin, Kentucky -- whether it's legal one day, or it's not going to be illegal -- if it's getting into our schools we're going to work the case."

Sansone and Smith have both bonded out of jail. They face drug trafficking charges.




Stay with WDRB News. We'll update this story as it develops.

http://www.wdrb.com/story/39489002/c...tied-to-cartel