The Gastonia Police Department seized approximately five kilograms of cocaine and arrested two individuals on trafficking charges during proactive patrol efforts on Wednesday.
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Officers observed a 2012 Chevrolet Traverse with Texas license plates engaging in evasive maneuvers after spotting law enforcement, prompting them to follow the vehicle, the police department announced on Thursday.
The vehicle abruptly turned into Summit Crossing Place, where the passenger, identified as Roberto Azama-Rodriguez, exited the vehicle and fled carrying a box.
Officers pursued Azama-Rodriguez into a nearby wooded area, where he discarded the box into a creek before being detained.
Inside the recovered box, investigators found approximately five kilograms of cocaine.
The driver, Manuel Gomez-Bustos, was located shortly afterward on North New Hope Road, where a traffic stop was conducted, and he was taken into custody without incident.
Both Azama-Rodriguez and Gomez-Bustos have been charged with two counts of trafficking in cocaine.
From left: Roberto Azama-Rodriguez, Manuel Gomez-Bustos
The seized cocaine has an estimated street value ranging from $150,000 to over $200,000, depending on its purity and how it is cut for distribution.
A seizure of this size typically represents bulk trafficking-level possession, not personal use, as five kilograms can be broken down into tens of thousands of individual street-level doses.
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