A roadside search of a vehicle on Interstate 10 led to the discovery of some $2.1 million worth of cocaine in Mobile County on Thursday, the authorities said..

The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, aided by the U.S. Border Patrol, stopped a Ford Expedition on I-10 east in Mobile County at about 9:30 a.m.

The driver, 36-year-old Melissa Dufour of Miramar, Fla., and the passenger, 34-year-old Racquelle Anteola of Van Nuys, Calif., told law enforcement they were traveling from Houston to Atlanta, according to the sheriff’s office.

But as officers interviewed the women, their statements began to contradict each other, according to the sheriff’s office, which deployed a drug sniffing dog that alerted to the presence of narcotics.

Deputies searched the vehicle, discovering more than 217 pounds, or 85 kilograms, of cocaine in hidden compartments under the floor board and side walls, according to the sheriff’s office. The cocaine has an estimated street value of $2.1 million, sheriff’s officials said.

Narcotics detectives and agents from the Department of Homeland Security took charge of the investigation, with Dufour and Anteola taken into custody and transported to the Mobile Metro jail, each charged with cocaine trafficking.

Both remained in jail as of Friday afternoon, pending the outcome of a bond hearing.

The investigation remains open.