From The Pineville Police Department -
On Tuesday July 17, 2018 Pineville police received a call of a tractor trailer that was driving recklessly on US25E. Officer Curtis Pingleton observed the vehicle and performed a traffic stop on US25E. During the stop Officer Pingleton made contact with two males who were in the vehicle. Through roadside interview and interdiction, training officer Pingleton determined the men were exhibiting suspicious behavior and detained them.
Officer Pingleton observed several duffle bags inside the cab of the truck and the occupants told the officer there was marijuana in the bags. Both individuals were detained by officer Pingleton and then assistant Chief Kyle Dunn. Appalachia Narcotics Investigations were then contacted to assist with the investigation.
The ANI then coordinated with Lexington DEA and discovered the marijuana was en route to Madison County Kentucky. Through the investigation two individuals were identified who were intended to pick up the marijuana. Detectives with ANI and DEA coordinated the delivery and the DEA arrested the intended recipients of the marijuana.
Further investigation revealed the total weight of the marijuana discovered by Officer Pingleton was 91.9 kilograms (202.6 lbs). The tractor trailer was coming to Madison County KY from El Paso Texas and had made stops in South Carolina. The investigation determined the intended recipients and the location of the shipment.
Evidence presented during a two day trial in February of this year by the DEA and ANI established that earlier in July of 2018, 37 year old Brandon Hayden of Lexington Kentucky had received multiple cell phone photographs of bags and bales of marijuana buds with texts indicating that the shipment was on its way to him in a tractor-trailer.
Later in the day on July 17, 2018, Hayden was at a truck stop in Richmond Kentucky to meet the anticipated delivery of the Marijuana that - unbeknownst to him - had been intercepted by the Pineville officers.
Brandon Hayden met Vincent Raglin, a co-defendant who pleaded guilty to the conspiracy, in the parking lot of the truck stop. Hayden and Raglin then drove to the spot where the tractor-trailer was parked. After Raglin got out of his vehicle and collected the first duffle bag, the two were arrested by authorities.
Both Hayden and Raglin along with the two other individuals initially stopped in Pineville have all received federal prison time as a result of this investigation.
Pineville police and ANI were assisted on the traffic stop by deputies with the Bell County Sheriff’s Department. ANI is a multi-agency narcotics investigation unit consisting of Detectives from Harlan Co Sheriff, Bell Co Sheriff, Pineville Police, and KY State Police.