Fayette Co. makes major crystal meth bust

More drug runners tried to make it through Fayette County and got caught. Friday night, they're in jail.

The drug seizure had a street value of $1.3 million dollars.

"I got out there and made three stops and got lucky," said Deputy Randy Thumann.

Fayette County Sheriff's Office Deputy Randy Thumann calls it luck, but it's clearly skill. He and his K-9 Lobos have made record seizures of drugs along I-10 for years. Their most recent find involved a kilo of cocaine and 28 pounds of crystal.

Thumann says he made the traffic stop Thursday morning.

"They told me they were coming from San Angelo and they were headed to Houston to paint car," he said.

Thumann says the occupants seemed incredibly nervous and their route didn't make sense. With permission Thumann searched the car.

"The cocaine was in a small red bag which was just lying on the back seat," said Thumann.

The driver, 39-year-old Fidencio Fernandez, and passenger 24-year-old Justin Price were put in handcuffs.

"I noticed that there were some torque converters in the back in the truck," said Thumann. "I could tell right away the converters had been cut in half and they were welded very unprofessionally. It was obvious that they weren't balanced. So, whenever we got back to the sheriff's office we took the converters to the shop in town."

Once opened, crystal meth packages were exposed. The total amount recovered has a street value of $1.3 million dollars.

Thumann says when he told Fernandez and Price how much meth was in there, they cried.

"It's costly. I don't know to who. Somebody is definitely going to pay the price for losing the dope," said Thumann.

Thumann believes the drugs came from Mexico.

It's the third largest crystal meth bust Thumann has had. The most meth he's found was in 2012. He found 142 pounds of liquid meth hidden in a gas tank.

Thumann says the torque converters were a new hiding spot. You can bet he'll be looking for that now.

"It's a challenge every day, you know, they try to hide it and we try to find it and every time you find it, it's a success," he said.