A man arrested in a Meridian Police Department and Homeland Security drug bust died Tuesday after strangling himself Friday night in the back of a patrol car 

Hector Zermeno, of El Paso, Texas, drove a furniture-filled U-Haul alone, towing a rental car Friday night, when officers pulled him over. Meridian Police Chief Benny Dubose said Saturday officers found about 400 pounds of marijuana concealed in a boxspring mattress. 

“After the K-9 alerted on the vehicle, the suspect was secured in the car and taken to the station where the search continued. After about 20 minutes, officers went to check on him and they found him unresponsive as he had wrapped the seat belt around his neck after he managed to free one of his hands. CPR was done and Metro Ambulance was called,” Dubose said   Saturday.

Dubose reported Zermeno’s condition as stable on Saturday. 

Mississippi Bureau of Investigations spokesman Warren Strain said Wednesday that Zermeno, 48, died at the University of Mississippi Medical Center on Tuesday. 

“It’s still ongoing so we’re limited on how much detail we can pass along at this time,” Strain said. 

Strain said the MBI would investigate the in-custody death to ensure MPD followed procedure. 

Dubose could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

“We are now conducting interviews as part of the investigation,” Strain said. 

Strain couldn’t estimate the time necessary for the investigation.

“We are going through the necessary steps,” Strain said, noting that evaluations will be sent from the Medical Examiner’s Office to the Crime Lab and procedures will need to be reviewed. “It will take some time.”