Officers pulled over a college student after observing him driving without a seatbelt. But what first seemed [music] like an average day on the job would soon reveal one of the department's biggest contraband busts within city limits. [music] But behind his nonchalant demeanor, he held a massive secret that police [music] were soon to discover. I wanted you to pull over right there, that's all. Okay, that's good. No, I'm sorry. We're here now, it's all set. Sorry, just got to wear your seatbelt the right way, okay? Sorry about that. This is my uh cousin's rental. Okay, I don't want that. I I want the rental agreement. Um where's the That's the registration. So are you on the rental agreement? >> Yeah, I should be a authorized secondary Is there any way you guys can search it up with the plate? Cuz I remember I got into an accident. >> It doesn't work that way. It doesn't work that way? No. Is it in the center maybe? All right, just hop out, please. There, we can talk? Yeah, I want to talk to you outside. What time is it? Can you check, bro? Yep, 1:00 up. Yeah, all right, time. Yes, I want to speak to you outside of the car. But what is your reason? I will we'll talk outside of the car. I'm trying to look for the registration, but it's not giving me the option, though. >> Okay, the United States Supreme Court allows me to ask you to get out of the car. I'm good. All right? Any weapons on you? No weapons. Just give me your hands out of your pockets, please. I'm not patting you down, relax. Just come over here, I just told you we're just talking. Just sign on that side. Just try to sit by right here. So what Um Let's search up him. So before you search up, I actually got like a kind of noise. Before you search up my name I got a cousin Okay. I got a cousin named same name as me. Okay. So it's they usually get me confused. Yeah, I got you. It's all good. It happens. Okay. Um >> I usually get pulled over a lot and I know it's me. They usually confuse me for him. I've never met you. I have no [ __ ] clue who you are or your brother. Appreciate it. >> care. All right? All right, uh so it's your cousin's rental? Yes. Who's your cousin? Where you going now? I'm going to get a oil oil change at Firestone right down the road. And I got two nails in the tire, so right after that I'm going to get that situated. And where are you coming from now? School. I go to Providence College. Oh, yeah? Yeah, safe. What do you study there? Finance. Finance? I went to Roger Williams for 1 year criminal justice, transferred there. Right on. Cool, man. What do you do for work? Right now I'm a bus driver. I'm a bus monitor. I want to become a bus driver. My mom's a bus driver. She's going to give me that. And I'm a lifeguard on weekends. Literally just took this car for the day. I got it, man. How's your license? >> My license is good. I just got into an accident. I just got >> It's all active, though? Yeah, everything's No warrants or anything? No, I don't have any warrants. Never been arrested. >> Never in your life? Never in my You already had classes today? >> No, I don't have classes now. No? Nice. Birthday on Friday? No class Friday, but tomorrow's my usually my busy days. They're till 5:00. Where's your cousin at? Where you going? Anything illegal in the car? No, nothing illegal. No firearms? No firearms. No cocaine? No. No No large amounts of US currency? Um there's probably like 1,000 bucks in the car. 1,000 bucks? Okay. Thank you, man. You're welcome. No marijuana or large amounts of marijuana? I mean, I smoke marijuana, but Yeah, no big deal. No large amounts of marijuana in the car? Okay. Um no unprescribed medications? No. What's in the Is it that old medical marijuana in the trash bag? In the back? >> But it's probably like Are they empty or full? Well, a lot of the bottles are empty, but there's like Is this like a thousand of them in there? No, no, no. Trash bag's full, so No big deal. Not a thousand of them. There are a lot. It's full, so I pretty I like smoking a lot of smoke. Yeah, that's cool, bro. Okay. I don't do nothing. No drugs. Anything illegal on you right now? No. All right. Can I pat you down? What for? Just to make sure you don't have a firearm. Put your hands on the car. Relax. Um so, you know you've never been in trouble? Never been in trouble. How come your brother's not getting me I mean, your cousin's not getting the rental out to you? He asked me to do him a favor. Okay. Have a seat in my car. You're not under arrest, okay? All right. Just be in the clear for now, okay? Um All right, listen. I I've been this a long time, all right? All I look for is drugs and guns. So, if you're forthcoming with me, I'm going to be cool with you. I'm just telling you my side. I'm telling you my side, all right? I understand. So, obviously I have a job to do, all right? And I'm good at my job, all right? You're displaying a lot of things to me that make me very suspicious. No, I totally understand. >> So, this is kind of your last opportunity. If there's anything small in that car, I understand. I don't care about small amounts. It's mainly drugs. I'm going to be completely honest. It's just a little bit of marijuana. Yeah. What's a little bit? Probably like literally 2 oz. >> 2 oz? It's just in boxes, so it looks a lot. >> Yeah, I got you. All right, just hang out. Hang tight for me. And I have um my cell phones in there, but >> Yeah, how many phones you got? I saw them. There's probably like There's but a lot of those are not even like on or anything. You know what I'm saying? All right, just hang tight for me. I appreciate it. So, you're studying finance? Finance, my last year. Did you just leave the dispensary? Is that why it's all in the car? Or what's the story? Well, honestly, I smoke a lot of freaking weed, bro. A lot of freaking weed. Okay. So, I like to keep a lot on me. Well, not a lot. I don't really consider that a lot. >> Do you sell it or what? Uh I wouldn't say I sell it like My brothers Hook your boys up, whatever. My brother smokes a lot of weed. I have a lot of siblings. Okay. How much cash is in the car? I'm I just took the car for the earlier day. I can't say it, but I would probably say like $1,000. Okay. Where did you pick the car up? Providence. Where is that at? Whereabouts? >> 12 minutes from here. All right, give me a second. While laws surrounding THC vary greatly state by state, it is legal in Rhode Island. And personal possession, whether on your person or in your vehicle, up to 1 oz or 28 g is considered legal, only if in sealed child-proof packaging. However, despite its legality, the mere sight, smell, or admission of having THC still gives officers probable cause to conduct a search. [music] But, upon searching the vehicle, police would soon discover a lot more than the suspect was letting on. 409 406 Obviously selling it. All right. It's ready to go. 407 406 Officer 5208 Head down. Look at the normal. Oh my god. Good. Want to talk to me? For what? It's behind the cup holder. Behind the cup holder. The backseat. I know what you're talking about. Despite the man feigning his innocence, the officer knew he was hiding something. So, he returned to the man's vehicle to try and get a closer look at what he saw hidden behind the cup holders. Uh-huh. >> Damn, freaking kilo, dude. Oh my god. Holy Where [clears throat] did you arrive from, sir? I flew in from Peru. Okay, what's going on? I just uh found some stuff in your car that we got to talk about. Okay, some stuff? Yep. So, just hang tight for me. All right. I think this 5 kilos of this stuff. Yeah. Make sure. I think It's crazy. So, I get him out of the car. He drives He drives by me. He's like freaking out. I'm looking at him. He's right in front of me. So, I stop him. No seat belt. You can go on. I want this on camera. Okay. All right, he pulls in front of me. He's coming this way. All right, good. Rented car out of New York. Not a rental. Can't provide rental agreement. Uh says it's cousin's car. Behavior is erratic on the interview. There's a big trash bag full of marijuana. Appears to be over 2 oz, right? So, he's Okay, good. I go through my whole interview. He gives me an extent consent to pat him down. Nothing on him. Extremely nervous. Numerous cell phones in the center console. Over $1,000 in the center console. So, I'm searching the car and I see So, the third row, I pull down the back seat. Get to the third row and I look, I see a couple of bricks. That's not fixed properly in the car. Yeah. So, I pick it up and I can see appears to be a a tan of marijuana. So, I lift it up more. I see several of them. I think there's like 5 kilos in the rear compartment. So, I'm just going to I have probable cause. Yeah, yeah. >> I can articulate everything. I just want the dog just to just make it concrete. >> Yep. >> And then I'm going to Yeah. He's been very cooperative, Okay, but it's it's all there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I'm I'm pretty confident, but I could be wrong. So, I saw one like slid down and it's the exact shape of a kilo and I was like, "Maybe it's like an airbag." I don't know. Yeah, it's not in there. Yeah. And then I looked further and I saw two stacked. One's wrapped in red tape and one's wrapped in black tape. Before tearing off the man's cup holders to see what's inside, a canine trained in contraband detection is brought on scene in hopes a positive alert is given to confirm what the officers have suspected from the beginning. What? Stick the gift. Here. Hop. Come on. Come on. What the gift? What the gift? Stick the gift. Stick Come on. Stick the gift. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Hop. Come on, boy. Do something. Do something. You can roll the flowers. Look in here, Sheriff. Yeah, this is what He kept coming back. >> Look right here. I got it. What you What this way and then over? You feel it? Look, it's all cut out. It's not normal. There's two over here, too. It's definitely It's a kilo. It's definitely Right? It's definitely Hey, you know what I mean? >> feel it in there. my phone? I want to take a photo, please. No, I don't need it. I'm going to rip it right off. He's got the He's got the weed right here to mask the odor of the [ __ ] drugs. He's got the air blasting. >> Where is it in the quarter panel? Yeah, it's all right here. Yep. Perfect. All right, it's Teddy, right? Yes. Okay, I'm just going to read you your rights to the special listen, okay? Absolutely. You have the right to remain silent. Do you want to talk to me? I don't know what's going on. I found some packages in the rear quarter of your vehicle that it it indicative of heavy amount of narcotics. Okay. What do you know about it? I don't know nothing about it. So, you don't know if this this car's loaded with a bunch of kilos? I don't know nothing about it. >> Cuz it's loaded with a bunch of kilos. I really don't know nothing about Okay. [ __ ] Right there, right there. Hold it. Camera. You got a multi-tool? I got one. One, two, three, four. I see five right now. Do you want to do that? Give me one good pull back now. Holy baby. One Look at that. Look at that. I think I just put here a multi-tool. I don't care. It's worth it. Yeah. [ __ ] Just leave them all right here for now. See that? It could be anything. Could be crack cocaine. Oh my goodness gracious. This is insane. Is that five [ __ ] Holy [ __ ] They coming. Keep coming, baby. Keep coming. Holy [ __ ] All right, this whole fender is got Cuz this whole fender is loaded. I'm going to have Gus put him in handcuffs right now. I don't want to do that. All right. Give me a second. I said Got to glove up. I don't know. All right, man. All right, you want to go in the back? All right, you're under arrest, fresh. Any way you can loosen these a little bit? Yeah, I told you I'm going to be cool with you as long as you do cool with me. That's That's how handcuffs fit. They uh fit fit too perfectly. I can stick my finger in there. You're okay. Thank you. I'm going to hold the flashlight. You stick Stick your head in there. There's some more down there. I can't see. Down there. Can you tell? Oh, yeah, there's more. Holy [ __ ] There you go. It's probably all clips now. This is crazy. This is crazy, bro. I think I got them all. It goes way down. Yeah, let's just put that Oh, this has to stay right there. That's the money shot. That's the money shot. That's everything I've worked for. Oh my god. Can we rip the other side off? That's good. Thank you. Good point. See, I got tunnel vision. Yeah, this one's solid. I want to say there might be one more down there. That's what I'm trying to get. Sarge, cuz it it sinks down. Yeah. There could be a couple more that fell. I don't I don't know how to get at them. We don't have to get at it right now. >> Correct. So, we'll take the photos, down to BCI, take him to the station. Take him to the station. Take his phone. Oh, yeah, I got everything. Open container, too. Not the 10 kilos? All right, we're back. iPhones. Where's the marijuana bag? A thorough search of the suspect's vehicle revealed a vast quantity of contraband hidden deep within his rear cup holders. Police seized nine tightly wrapped packages which later tested positive for cocaine. A total of 11 kg of the substance was contained within the packages with an approximate street value of between $350,000 to over $1 million dollars. Alongside the massive haul, police also located 11 pressed fentanyl pills and an enormous quantity of THC products equating to well over 1 oz. As the suspect, Teddy Lopez, had originally stated, but the police were about to make even more shocking discoveries. Peds got about a year and a half of paperwork to do. You know, Shane said he's going to help him with all of it. >> [laughter] >> Do you mind if I hold the trash bag? Fentanyl and oxycodone. Over the seatbelt. Seatbelt stop. We only got what we could reach. So, there's a good chance that there might be more, so I want to bring it right to the station, right to the BCI bay. Is there anything in there? Yep. Yep. Yep. He's forgiven for all. >> Yeah. He's forgiven for everything. I don't know about everything, but we can we can talk about it. All right. All right. We'll see you. Bye. Justin, you waiting for tow? All right, you don't leave that car out of your sight. I'm going to pull right behind him. That That you stay right behind the tow driver. You don't [ __ ] lose and it's going to the station. It's going into the BCI bay. 21-year-old Teddy Lopez was charged with numerous felony offenses including possession with intent to manufacture or sell fentanyl, possession with intent to manufacture or sell cocaine, possession with intent to deliver a schedule one and two controlled substance, drug conspiracy, distribution or manufacturing contraband in or around schools, and keeping or maintaining a common nuisance. On January 28th, 2026, Teddy Lopez entered a plea of no contest to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and felony drug conspiracy. While the remainder of his charges were dropped, he was sentenced to eight years in prison on each count to run concurrently. Lopez was ordered to serve 21 months in custody with the remaining 75 months being suspended. Upon his release, Teddy will be subject to eight years of probation, but if he violates his probation, Lopez may be ordered to serve the remainder of his 75-month suspended sentence behind bars. He was given credit for time served and all court costs were waived.