Handwritten Tag, Expired Registration Leads To Cocaine Arrest of Semi Driver In Escambia County

July 30, 2026

A California truck driver was arrested in Escambia County after an agricultural inspection led to the discovery of cocaine inside his semi-truck.

Officers with the Florida Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement (OALE) arrested Mukesh Mani, 30, on a felony cocaine charge. According to authorities, Mani was driving a semi-truck and trailer that displayed a handwritten tag with no state designation. A registration check revealed the trailer’s registration had expired in 2021.

The standard agricultural inspection escalated when OALE K-9 Officer Thomas deployed narcotics detection dog K-9 Mojo to conduct a free-air sniff around the exterior of the semi tractor. K-9 Mojo gave a positive alert for the presence of narcotics, which provided officers with probable cause to search the cab.

During the search of the interior, officers uncovered a tube containing a white powdery substance that field-tested positive for cocaine.

Mani was taken into custody and transported to the Escambia County Jail. He was released on a $2,500 bond.

Comments





Have a comment on this story?

We welcome your comments on this story, but there are some rules to follow::

(1) Be Nice. No comments that slander another, no racism, no sexism, no personal attacks.

(2) No Harrassing Comments. If someone says something bad about you, don't respond. That's childish.

(3) No Libel. That's saying something is not true about someone. Don't do it.

(4) Keep it clean. Nothing vulgar, obscene or sexually related. No profanity or obvious substitutions. Period.

(5) NorthEscambia.com reserves the right to remove any comments that violate our rules or we think to be inappropriate. We are not responsible for what is posted. Comments may not appear right away until they are approved by a moderator.

(6) Limit your comments to the subject in this story only, and limit comments to 300 words or less. Do not post copyrighted material. Comments will not be added to stories that are over 30 days old.

(7) No posts may advertise a commercial business, political candidate or political group, or link to another commercial web site or political site of any kind.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under FRONT TOP 

  NEfb