Update: Additional Information About Meth Bust Released By HCSO

The two men arrested in connection with the Interstate 30 traffic stop early Thursday morning that netted 8 kilograms of suspected methamphetamine were have been identified as 24-year-old Salvador Madrigal-Morales and 28-year-old Pablo Vega of Denver, Colorado.

Hopkins County Sheriff’s Interdiction Deputy Jason Lavender reported stopping the driver of a gray Chrysler 200 with Texas license plates at 12:42 a.m. Dec. 12 near mile marker 116 on Interstate 30 for two traffic violation.

The occupants were identified as Pablo Vega and Salvador Madrigal-Morales. Although driver Vega was identified using a New York driver’s license, both men reportedly gave a Denver, Colorado address as their residence, according to arrest reports.

After receiving permission to search the vehicle, Lavender deployed his canine partner, Chiv, to conduct an open air sniff search around the vehicle. Chiv gave a positive alert to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle, so additional deputies who had responded at the location to assist transported the vehicle and two men that’d been traveling in it to the sheriff’s office for further investigation, Lavender alleged in arrest reports.

A more thorough search of the car allegedly revealed a hidden compartment under the driver’s side front seat that contained eight large clear Ziploc bags with a crystal-like substance, Lavender alleged in arrest reports. Officers also reported finding another hidden compartment under the passenger’s side seat of the car. Deputy Zachary Horne and Lavender conducted a field presumptive test on the crystal-like substance which, they alleged in arrest reports, tested positive for methamphetamine.

Hopkins County Sheriff Lewis Tatum Thursday reported the suspected meth weighed approximately 8 kilograms.

Both Vega and Modrigal-Morales were booked into Hopkins County jail Thursday afternoon on a possession of more than 400 grams of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance charge, according to arrest reports.

Vega and Modrigal-Morales remained in Hopkins County jail Friday morning, Dec. 13; their bond was set at $100,000 on the controlled substance charge, according to jail reports.