Vivek Ramaswamy family bodyguard charged with trafficking fentanyl, meth and speed

Justin Salsburey, 43, of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and his wife, Ruthann Rankin, were arrested December 30 on charges of drug trafficking. With about 18,000 such cases a year in the U.S. this would not be newsworthy but for an interesting fact: he is, or rather was, Vivek Ramaswamy's family bodyguard.

When law enforcement searched the couple's house, they found 264 grams of blue pills, 938 grams of orange methamphetamine pills, and 19 grams of orange MDMA pills, along with other suspected controlled subtances and steroids, according to the complaint against Rankin.

After Rankin's arrest, she told investigators that she believed the blue pills were "benzos" and that the orange pills that tested positive for methamphetamine were Adderall, a commonly prescribed (but tightly controlled) drug for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Rankin said her husband started selling steroids and progressed into selling other drugs, according to the complaint.

Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur specializing in marketing drugs that fail in clinical trials and a former Republican presidential candidate, is yet to comment.

"Ramaswamy and his family were "alarmed to hear this disturbing news,"" a spokesperson told Cleveland.com. "Vivek and his family take matters of safety seriously and support efforts to hold these individuals accountable for these allegations if they are proven."

Salsburey was a member of the security team assigned to protect Ramaswamy's family, campaign spokeswoman Connie Luck said in a statement.

The private security firm that hired Salsburey, ARK Protection Group, immediately removed him from the Ramaswamy family's security detail, Luck stated.

Briefly Elon Musk's co-leader at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency before Musk got rid of him, Ramaswamy is running for Ohio governor, but left social media two days ago, deleting his accounts. Perfect timing!

The presumptive Republican nominee for Ohio governor wrote in the Wall Street Journal that he deleted X and Instagram from his phone and will have his campaign post on his behalf. Ramaswamy said browsing social media can create a feedback loop and give politicians a distorted impression of how the average voter feels.

The mystery of Vivek's grin finally solved? Grinding, not smiling.

Previously:
• How Vivek Ramaswamy cashed in while shareholders lost millions
• I never thought leopards would eat MY face, sobs Vivek Ramaswamy, who voted for the Leopards Eating People's Faces Party
• Ramaswamy says colleges should require physical fitness test for admission
• Watch Vivek Ramaswamy perform as rapper 'Da Vek'