Wisconsin Men Arrested In Rogers County, Accused Of Smuggling Vapes

Rogers County Deputies arrested two Wisconsin men accused of driving through the state with 2,000 vacuum sealed THC vapes.

The men were smuggling the marijuana vapes from California to the Chicago area, deputies said.

Deputies said while it's not fentanyl, meth or heroin, it is still drugs and it is dangerous and illegal to smuggle drugs in or out of Oklahoma.

Deputies said a traffic stop led to finding the vapes in the trunk of a car driven by Guillermo Nuno and Giovanni Rivera.

"They were pretty intent on concealing the odor. Each package was wrapped in two to three layers of vacuum sealed bags,” said Sergeant Ron Walker with the Rogers County Sheriff’s Office.

Sergeant Walker works interdiction for the sheriff's office and is specially trained to look for indicators of criminal activity during traffic stops.

He said when he pulled over Nuno and Rivera, they showed all the signs and he said he could smell marijuana in the car.

"As if rehearsed, he quickly told me, 'We flew to California, took a rental home because we had to go to Houston, Texas to visit family. And that's why we are traveling the way we are,'" said Walker.

Walker said one suspect told him they drove because airfare was too expensive, but Walker noticed their rental car bill was a thousand dollars, not including gas.

"When I asked the driver about that compared to airfare, he slumped down in his seat and looked completely defeated,” said Walker.

Walker said while some may think smuggling THC vapes isn't dangerous, he said that kind of criminal activity is often tied to other crimes, even violent crimes.

"The regulations we have are to try to protect people. And unknown items, made with unknown products from somewhere else, there's no way to make sure it is safe for citizens,” said Walker.