PRYOR, Okla. — A man was arrested after he was allegedly caught with a large amount of cocaine in his spare tire during a traffic stop in Pryor.
FOX23 spoke to Pryor Police Chief Jeremy Cantrell about the arrest.
Cantrell said that it was the most cocaine he had ever seized in the City of Pryor, with the help of Pryor’s K9 officer, they were able to find 25 pounds of cocaine.
Ten bricks of cocaine weighing in at 25 pounds with an estimated value of around $350,000 were found.
Police said Chance Ferguson was stopped on Highway 69 for a traffic violation, but after police spoke to the man, something seemed off.
“Over the course of the interaction with the driver, his story wasn’t adding up or making sense. The time frames that he was giving for what he said he had been doing didn’t make sense. The officer also smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle,” Cantrell said.
After noticing the smell, the officer noticed something else.
“Ferguson was wearing an ankle monitor. He said that he had been previously arrested for being in possession of two kilos of cocaine,” Cantrell said.
Cantrell said Pryor Police deployed their K9 officer, Kika, who alerted police.
“The K9 alerted to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle. At that point, Officer Phillips began searching. When he dropped the spare tire he noticed the spare tire did not match the vehicle and when he pressed on the spare tire he felt something inside,” Cantrell said.
Cantrell said that Ferguson is from St. Louis and was probably just passing through Pryor and going back to St. Louis. Regardless, he said he’s proud of the bust.
“Somewhere we’re making an impact on a community. Whether it be St. Louis or wherever, you’re getting these drugs off the street. Getting them away from kids or wherever they’re going to end up. It’s a huge part of the law and it’s a huge win for us and the K9s are a huge asset,” Cantrell said.
Cantrell said he’s proud of his officers and the K9 officer.
Ferguson was booked in the Mayes County Jail and faces charges of aggravated trafficking of illegal drugs and failure to affix a tax stamp.