Federal and state law enforcement officials have made three arrests after seizing nearly 115 pounds of methamphetamine and 2 pounds of heroin on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast.
Aaron Whavers, 49, of Pass Christian, Miss., Gerald Jones, 64, of Mobile, Ala. and Sharard Collier, 43, of Inglewood, Calif., were charged with Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine.
On Monday, the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and Harrison County CNET Agents conducted searches of Whavers’ residence on Firetower Road in Pass Christian, and also a tractor trailer truck parked at a truck stop on County Farm Road in Long Beach, Miss. Agents recovered approximately 51 pounds of methamphetamine and two pounds of heroin, a Glock .40 caliber pistol and $30,000 from Whavers’ residence. Law enforcement also recovered approximately 63 pounds of methamphetamine from the tractor trailer truck parked at the truck stop in Long Beach. The estimated value of the recovered narcotics is more than $1 million.
According to the FBI, this is one of the largest meth seizures ever on the Mississippi Coast.
Whavers, Jones and Collier made their initial appearances on Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge John C. Gargiulo, Southern District of Mississippi, and were ordered to be held without bond pending a detention and preliminary hearing. The detention and preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 13, 2019. If convicted, Whavers, Jones and Collier face sentences of up to life in federal prison and a fine of up to $10 million.
These arrests and seizures are the result of a joint investigation by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force in Pascagoula, Miss., Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Harrison County Coastal Narcotics Enforcement Team, Harrison and Jackson County Sheriff’s Offices and the South Mississippi Metropolitan Enforcement Team in Pascagoula. U.S. Border Patrol and the Jackson and Harrison County Sheriff’s Offices Canines assisted with the investigation.
