On Monday, November 4, 2024, deputies with the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office Interstate Criminal Enforcement (ICE) Team conducted a traffic stop on a GMC with New Jersey plates for a violation on Interstate 77 North, near mile marker 63. The vehicle’s occupants, driver Nery Rolando Amaya-Maldonado and passenger Edwin Jafeth Vargas-Flores, both Honduran nationals residing in New Jersey, reported that they were traveling back to New Jersey from South Carolina.
During the stop, deputies observed indicators of criminal activity. Upon searching the vehicle, they discovered approximately three ounces of cocaine wrapped in tape and concealed within the vehicle.
Amaya-Maldonado and Vargas-Flores were arrested and taken to the Iredell County Detention Center, where they were charged with:
▪ Felony Trafficking Cocaine by Possession
▪ Felony Trafficking Cocaine by Transport
▪ Felony Possession with Intent to Sell or Deliver Cocaine
▪ Felony Maintaining a Vehicle for the Sell of a Controlled Substance
▪ Misdemeanor Possession of Drug Paraphernalia
Both suspects appeared before Magistrate Nethken and received a secured bond of 350,000.00 dollar secured bond.