MASSIVE FENTANYL & METH BUST IN RANKIN & HINDS COUNTY MISSISSIPPI (02/01/24)

FLORENCE, Miss. (WLBT) - Multiple people, including drug dealers, were arrested across the metro Thursday after law enforcement in the area noticed an increase in overdoses over the past few months.

In all, five adults and six juveniles were arrested.

One of those arrests occurred during a major drug bust in Florence Thursday morning.

Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey said that several arrests were made during that drug bust and that the bust involved the drug fentanyl.

According to officials, officers began making undercover buys from the suspects they could get close to.

The buys, along with other intelligence, resulted in arrest warrants and search warrants being issued on the below listed individuals.

Pedro Antonio Martinez Garcia, 18, of Florence

• One count of sale of fentanyl

• Was out on bond for sale of fentanyl while in possession of a firearm and possession of methamphetamine while in possession of a firearm

Jose Fernando Herrera Resendiz, 30 , Ridgeland

• One count of selling cocaine within 1,500 feet of a park

• One count of conspiracy to sell cocaine within 1,500 feet of a park.

• Registered sex offender

Richard Bryant, 51, of Pelahatchie

• Three counts of sell of methamphetamine

• One count of conspiracy to sell methamphetamine

William Vinzant, 50, of Pelahatchie

• One count of the sell of methamphetamine

• One count of conspiracy to sell methamphetamine

• Possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine

• Drug trafficking of ectasy

Vincent Edwards, Jr., 34, of Tougaloo

• Two counts of conspiracy to sell cocaine within 1500 feet of a park.

• Search warrant of his residence in Hinds County, resulted in the discovery of felony amount of narcotics and recovery of a stolen 12 gauge shotgun taking in a house burglary in September of 2019, in Rankin County.

• Charged and arrested in Hinds County

This was a joint investigation between the Rankin County Sheriff’s Office, the Madison Police Department, the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office and the Richland Police Department.