Three men are behind bars after they were pulled over by Rankin County deputies with around five kilograms of cocaine hidden in a compartment in their van.
The drugs were found when Rankin County Interdiction Deputy Ronnie Decell pulled over a maroon van traveling east on I-20. He said the vehicle was following the one in front of it within two car lengths, which is dangerous at 70 miles per hour.
Decell said when he questioned the passengers of the vehicle, the driver’s body language and the differing stories told by he and his passengers were suspicious. After receiving permission to search from the owner of the van but not the driver, Decell used K9 Fox to check the vehicle for drugs and he alerted immediately on a back panel.
The SUV was brought back to a Rankin County facility where it was searched and almost 12 and a half pounds of cocaine were found. The street value is estimated to be around $160,000.
Jorge Boldovinos, 27, of Houston, TX; Eduardo Compean, 29, of Baton Rouge, LA; and Gavino Mezoma, 23, of Houston, TX were arrested for aggravated trafficking and booked into the Rankin County Jail.
The three suspects will go before Rankin County Court Judge David Morrow for their initial appearance on Wednesday.
More of this story will be available on Darkhorse Press’ real-world law enforcement series, “FRONT LINES.” The next episode comes out Oct. 18.