A Guatemalan citizen has been arrested in Mississippi and charged with aggravated drug trafficking.
The Harrison County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that Diego Valdez-Marroquin, 33, was taken into custody after a traffic stop turned into a large amount of cocaine being confiscated.
On Sunday, at approximately 9:18 p.m., a deputy pulled over a Toyota Tacoma on Interstate 10 eastbound in Gulfport. When speaking to the driver, later identified as Valdez-Marroquin, the deputy developed suspicions that drugs may be inside the vehicle. A subsequent search revealed 22 pounds of cocaine.
Valdez-Marroquin was booked into the Harrison County Jail and is being held in lieu of a $200,000 surety bond. The U.S. Border Patrol has applied a federal immigration hold on him as the Drug Enforcement Agency is assisting with the investigation.