Local drug enforcement agents seized $1.5 million in cocaine Monday night as part of an ongoing effort to curb what officials think is an Ohio-based drug operation that passes through Centre County.

The agents confiscated 6 kilograms of cocaine from unclaimed luggage found on a bus making a rest stop at the Bestway Truck Plaza in Boggs Township while en route to Columbus, Ohio, from New York City.

Jack Lewis, spokesman for the attorney general's office in Harrisburg, said agency officials believe the cocaine was destined for sale in Ohio, not Centre County. But Monday's incident and record-breaking drug amounts seized two weeks ago at the same truck plaza are still significant, he added.

"It indicates the high volume of drugs that is passing through the state when you stop just a few buses and find this much drugs," he said.

The agency arrested Leandra S. Johnson of Lima, Ohio, for possession of 1 kilogram of cocaine with intent to deliver. He was arraigned before District Justice Daniel Hoffman and placed in Centre County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Agents have not yet been able to connect the other five kilograms of cocaine to any individuals, but the investigation is continuing, Lewis said.

He said the arrest could be a break in the investigation, adding that officials are unsure how large the Ohio-based operation is. Seizures at Bestway Truck Plaza in connection with this particular ring have been underway less than one month, he said.

In seizures made March 15 and 16, agents found 1.5 kilograms of cocaine and 47 grams of heroin, the largest amounts of those drugs ever confiscated in Centre County before Monday's bust.

Lewis said the agency believes operators in Ohio are routinely traveling to New York City, picking up drugs, and then taking the next buses back to Cleveland.

He said agents from the State College branch of the attorney general's office routinely make searches at high-risk drug-trafficking areas, such as bus stations, train stations and airports.