Nicholas House, 27, was arrested by police acting on a tip that he was delivering a large load of drugs from Chicago.

Chicago man with ties to La Crosse was charged Tuesday with intent to deliver nearly 50 grams of cocaine.

The charge filed in La Crosse County Circuit Court stems from a bust early Thursday at an Onalaska motel where Nicholas House, 27, was arrested by police acting on a tip that he was delivering a large load of drugs from Chicago.

According to the criminal complaint, officers found 109 individually wrapped bags of cocaine wedged in a secret compartment behind the dashboard of the van in which House was riding. House said the drugs were his and that he’d been arrested before for drug dealing.

House is in the La Crosse County jail with a $50,000 cash bond.