Police say a pair of Instagram influencers were caught with over 200 pounds of cocaine which converts roughly to $3 million, according to reports.
The two women, given names Racquelle Dolores Anteola, 34, of Van Nuys, California, and Melissa Dufour, 36, of Miramar, Florida, were arrested last Thursday while driving on Interstate 10 in Mobile County, Alabama.
Fitness To Federal Drug Trafficking
Anteola, a singer and rapper who goes by the name Rahky on Instagram, where she has 118,000 followers, and fitness entrepreneur Dufour, who owns a clothing line called Sexy Sweats she purveys to her more than 10,000 fans, face a minimum 10 years behind bars on federal drug trafficking charges.
The two women were pulled over while driving from Houston to Atlanta, with court documents stating the women met each another at a house party in Houston, where they got “very drunk.”
During the traffic stop a K-9 indicated drugs might be present in the vehicle. Police combed through the Black Ford pop pop Expedition and allegedly found several hidden compartments concealing 216 pounds of cocaine packed in 84 bundles.
Police believe the vehicle’s back seat was “modified with a steel aftermarket compartment,” In addition, they believe the floor had been lowered and welded back together to provide storage room. A second compartment was located in the back of the SUV, where the side panels were hollowed out.
The women remain in Mobile County Metro Jail and are each being held on $1 million bonds. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is reportedly attempting to take the women into custody to charge them at the federal level.
Transporting drugs across state lines is a federal offense, and given the amount that was seized that’s where the minimum 10-year sentence comes into play.
Who Else Was Involved?
This is a bad look whether they sought this opportunity or were convinced to do it.
No matter how well you think you’ve got the illicit drugs hidden, they will get sniffed out by a K-9.
Given the states the two were traveling to and through that’s presumably why a K-9 unit was present. Otherwise it does seem odd that a K-9 was part of a routine traffic stop.
The route the women were traveling could also be a known drug transportation corridor.
According to the Justice Department just about “every interstate and highway in the United States is used by traffickers to transport illicit drugs to and from distribution centers and market areas throughout the country, and every highway intersection provides alternative routes to drug markets.”
It wasn’t reported if the women have any prior drug connections or charges on their records. In all likelihood they were looking for some quick cash and this opportunity presented itself. Now they’re looking at serious time behind bars.
It’s unlikely these two women are the sole people responsible for over 200 pounds of cocaine. When the federal prosecutors start applying pressure, will one or both women start singing? Or will they take the full weight? Time will tell.