Waterbury police stopped a car in the city early Monday morning and ended up making one of the biggest heroin busts in city history.
Police stopped Traci Basta in a light blue Toyota Camry on North Main Street at Elizabeth Street around 1 a.m. on Monday and found around 34,500 bags of heroin in the trunk, police said.
The street value of the heroin is estimated at around $350,000.
Basta told police that she borrowed the car from a friend around noon on Sunday. According to court records, the car was a rental from Hertz and was in someone else's name and police were investigating a report of a stolen Toyota rental when they stopped Basta.
Basta, 23, was alone in the car and was charged with a variety of narcotic and motor vehicle charges, including an improper turn and failure to use a seatbelt.
She appeared in court on Monday afternoon and is being held on $200,000 bond.
NBC Connecticut went to the Burr Street address listed for Basta, but there was no answer.
Police said this is the most significant heroin bust to result from a motor vehicle stop and this is the second major drug bust in Waterbury in a year.
"Last fall, we stopped a car coming from New York shipping a significant amount, that was 10,000 bags," Christopher Corbett, acting deputy Chief of Operations at the Waterbury Police Department, said.
Police said Basta is due in Waterbury Superior Court on June 24.
