RIG CHECK NETS $450K IN DRUGS

Sgt. Ronnie Odom, an officer with the Mississippi Public Service
Commission, hates to ponder how many tractor-trailers hauling illegal drugs
make it through Mississippi.

"Catching dope coming through the state is kind of a hit-and-miss thing,"
said Odom, whose job is to inspect trucks traveling through Mississippi.
"So many trucks and trucking companies are opening up every day. It's
estimated we check less than 10 percent of the trucks nationwide."

Odom got lucky Sunday and took one of the many rigs hauling drugs off the road.

Odom found more than $450,000 worth of cocaine and marijuana in the trailer
of an 18-wheeler during a routine truck inspection at a weigh station off
I-20 in Warren County.

The driver of the truck, Danny Hubbard, 33, of Simpson County, was arrested
and charged with possession with intent to deliver. He remained in the
Warren County Jail on Monday on a $250,000 bond.

The drugs - 15 pounds of cocaine and 318 pounds of marijuana - were stuffed
in nine duffel bags.

Odom said Hubbard told him he was carrying palettes in the truck.

"The trailer was sealed excessively for this relatively cheap load or cheap
commodity," Odom said. "When I stepped into the trailer, I could see the
bags at the rear of the trailer hidden among the wooden palettes."

After finding the drugs, Odom called the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics to
assist with the investigation.

Authorities suspect the drugs were going to be delivered somewhere in
central Mississippi, said Leigh Wells, a state Bureau of Narcotics
supervisory agent.

"We are trying to establish who the drugs were going to be delivered to,"
Wells said.