A community member’s tip to law enforcement officers looking for a wanted man led to a bust in which drugs, weapons and cash were seized and two men arrested, police said. Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.
Vander Antonio Mingledolph, 38, and Jeffrey Vernon Myers, 39, were charged with multiple crimes after being taken into custody at a motel in Columbia, the sheriff’s department said in a news release Wednesday.
According to the news release, the arrests were made on April 26 at a motel on Piney Grove Road. That’s near exit 104 on Interstate 26.
“Investigators from the Lexington County Multi-Agency Narcotics Enforcement Team, along with narcotics investigators from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department arrested (Mingledolph) as he walked out of the motel,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said in the news release. “Investigators smelled marijuana coming from his vehicle, so they conducted a search.”
Law enforcement found 150 grams of fentanyl, more than 200 grams of meth, more than 100 grams of cocaine and more than $3,000 in cash in Mingledolph’s car, police said.
“During their interaction with Mingledolph, investigators learned that a man wanted for drug abuse in Richland County and known to be working with Mingledolph in drug distribution was in a room at the same motel,” Koon said. “They made contact with (Myers) in his room and smelled marijuana.”
According to the release, fentanyl, crack, cocaine and three handguns were found during a search of Myers’ room.
Mingledolph was charged with trafficking fentanyl, meth and cocaine, the sheriff’s department said.
Myers was charged with trafficking in fentanyl, trafficking in crack, possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm during a violent crime, according to the release.
Both men remain behind bars at the Lexington County Detention Center, jail records show. According to jail records, Mingledolph was denied bond on all his charges, while Myers was denied bond on the drug trafficking charges.
