Sheriff’s Office’s Newest K9 Team Seizes One Kilogram of Cocaine

SMITH COUNTY — Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith tips his hat to his office’s newest K9 team for a Thursday evening cocaine bust. Smith says Deputy Logan Smith and his K9 Malachi recently graduated from a training academy. They were conducting patrol duties off FM 14 when Deputy Smith conducted a traffic stop, became suspicious of the driver, and used Malachi to examine the van’s exterior. Malachi reportedly detected the presence of a controlled substance. Sheriff Smith says a vehicle search turned up 2.2 lbs. (one kilogram) of cocaine. The cocaine was seized; the driver was arrested and charged with manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance. An Immigration Customs hold has been placed on Epifanio Bautista-Renteria, 33. The investigation is ongoing.