Sierra Blanca, Texas, can claim another celebrity victim. This is the town that is known for stopping everyone in their efforts to eliminate drugs in the area, even famous celebrities that are used to the white glove treatment like Fiona Apple and Willie Nelson. On October 10, 2012, Nelly and his entourage were aboard a 2007 tour bus, and the registered owner of the bus is Cornell Iral Haynes which is Nelly’s legal given name. When the bus reached the Border Patrol checkpoint the Border Patrol agent performed a US citizenship check on the passengers on the bus, and this check included Nelly and everyone else on the bus. The agent’s canine companion alerted that either drugs or hidden humans were detected on the bus and the bus driver was told to pull over to another lane at the station for a more extensive inspection.
Once the bus had pulled over the Border Patrol agent asked all of the passengers to exit the vehicle so the dog could search the bus. When the agent and dog entered the bus the dog hit on a box, and then a green duffel bag was also located that made the dog alert. There was a plastic container in the cardboard box that had marijuana, 36 baggies with heroin in small amounts, and a loaded pistol. The green duffel was located in a compartment under the bus, and this bag contained more than 10 pounds of marijuana in 9 bags that had been vacuum sealed. Originally everyone on the bus was detained, even Nelly the star, but eventually Nelly’s bodyguard Brian Keith Jones admitted that the drugs belonged to him. Whether this is actually true or the bodyguard took the fall for someone else may never be known.
