Custer Co. I-40 Traffic Stop Leads to Drug Bust

June 7, 2023

By News Director Jared Atha

Two men traveling from California to Mississippi were arrested in Custer County late last month and were discovered to allegedly be trafficking marijuana.

According to a probable cause affidavit, 35-year-old Brandon Oryan Ezell and 34-year-old Keith Burrell Thornton both of Pittsboro, Mississippi were pulled over on the afternoon of May 31 by a trooper with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for following too closely in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 near mile marker 68.

During the traffic stop, the trooper observed a taped cardboard box in the car but no suitcases or luggage.

While speaking with the driver in his patrol car, the trooper wrote in the affidavit that the man claimed that the duo were traveling back to Mississippi from California in a rented car after attending a graduation of a family member. The man claimed the two had flown to California but had only purchased one-way tickets.

The court document stated that while separated, the trooper asked the pair questions that returned contraindicating answers.

Later, a second trooper would arrive and conducted a search of the vehicle with a K9 unit. There the K9 indicated the smell of illegal drugs coming from the vehicle and troopers conducted a search.

The affidavit said that troopers recovered 24 pounds of marijuana and THC-infused products.

Both men were arrested without incident and booked into the Custer County Detention Center.

Both received one felony charge of unlawful possession of a controlled drug with the intent to distribute.