Two hill county drug dealers are now behind bars after advertising on a social media site they were selling pot.
The suspects used a lesser known slang term “loud” for marijuana that authorities hadn't heard of before. Though, they quickly found out when they started talking to the suspects online.
Police say Paul Michael Lozano and Manuel Rodrigues advertised they were selling drugs on a buy, sale or trade page online. The help of a concerned resident who reported the post to police, alerted police who were able to track them down.
Whitney Police Chief Chris Bentley says they quickly found out when they set up the meet to buy the drugs.
“This is the first case that we've seen though where it was just blatantly out there for everyone to see on something such as a garage sell website to say that I'm selling something,” says Chief Bentley. “And I will tell you they used the word loud, “l,” “o,” “u,” “d.” Loud was what described the marijuana.”
Investigators say they'll continue to share their information with other law enforcement agencies to potentially catch more dealers.
“A small child that has access to social media could have done the exact same thing that we did and we're 30 miles away and they delivered it to us,” says Chief Bentley. “So that could have certainly happened to a small, adolescent or juvenile that got on the social media and knew what that tag meant.”
Authorities say this is just one more example of why parents should be monitoring what their kids are posting online.
This is an ongoing investigation and Whitney Police say they're working on getting warrants for the two suspects meaning more charges and arrests could be coming.
