Four charged with trafficking in connection to big Lexington cocaine bust
Four men are facing federal narcotics trafficking and conspiracy charges in connection to a drug bust in Lexington last week that netted 47 kilograms of cocaine, authorities say.
While some of the drugs were found in a home on Winthrop Drive and a vehicle stopped in the Millpond Shopping Center, the largest cache was found hidden in a secret compartment in the back of a pickup truck at a Nicholasville hotel, court documents show.
For months, the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Kentucky State Police and Lexington Police Department had been investigating a Lexington man, Marion Pinder, and his drug trafficking organization, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Lexington last week.
On April 20, authorities were conducting surveillance at Pinder’s home on the 3800 block of Winthrop Drive, and they watched as he and the three other men who have been charged met there, then left in two separate vehicles, according to the affidavit, signed by DEA Special Agent Christopher Hill.
Pinder, 34, and Edgar Hernandez-Duron, 38, left together in a Jeep Compass, and Kentucky State Police, with help from HSI and DEA authorities, followed them to the nearby Millpond Shopping Center, where police turned on their emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop.
Pinder and Hernandez-Duron got out of the Compass and tried to run but were quickly apprehended, according to the affidavit.
One kilogram of suspected cocaine was found in the front passenger area of the Compass, the document states.
The other two men, who were driving a Dodge Ram pickup, went to the Hampton Inn on East Brannon Road in Nicholasville, and investigators talked with them there, according to the affidavit.
The men, Jesus Rodriguez and Santiago Rodriguez, gave permission for a search of their hotel room, and Santiago Rodriguez, the registered owner of the truck, gave permission for it to be searched, the document states. In the back of the truck, investigators found a tool box with a false bottom, and inside that compartment was 30 kilograms of suspected cocaine.
Authorities got a search warrant for Pinder’s home on Winthrop Drive and found 16 kilograms of the drug in the garage, as well as a handgun under the mattress in the main bedroom.
In a 2014 Lexington case, Pinder was convicted of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, less than 4 grams of cocaine, the affidavit states.
All four men are charged with aiding and abetting possession with the intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine, as well as conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute that substance.
Pinder and Hernandez-Duron were being held in the Fayette County Detention Center.
Jesus Rodriguez, 48, and Santiago Rodriguez, 51, were taken to the Jessamine County Detention Center.
Kevin McWilliams, public information officer for the DEA in Louisville, said Hernandez-Duron is from Mexico.
“Hernandez-Duron is linked to the cartels, we think, and he was found to be in the U.S. illegally,” McWilliams said.
He said authorities believe Jesus Rodriguez and Santiago Rodriguez crossed the southwest border in the days before they arrived in Lexington. McWilliams said Jesus Rodriguez had Texas identification, while Santiago Rodriguez had a Louisiana ID.
The Nicholasville Police Department previously said the drugs were valued at $2 million.
Hill wrote in the affidavit that the wholesale value of the drugs is $1 million.
“I am aware that this constitutes a significant seizure of illegal drugs intended for further distribution and is in no way consistent with amounts utilized for personal consumption,” Hill wrote.
Authorities also seized $15,000 cash as part of the bust.
McWilliams said the joint operation was conducted by the Homeland Security Task Force, which includes multiple law enforcement agencies.
