North Carolina--I am guessing by the county--although I-40 runs from coast to coast.
There is a Mecklenburg County in Kentucky.
This occurred in mid-Iredell county, about 45 miles north of Charlotte. There, in Statesville, you have the intersection of I-40 and I-77. For the last 10/20 years the Interstates in NC (I-40,77,85,95 )have been pipelines for illegal substances going north to the major metropolitan areas. Arrests are frequent and it is not unusual to have Mexican nationals involved.
In addition the state has had a huge Hispanic population growth in the last 5-8 years.
The Tarheel