WMOA News

Alleged Traffickers Stopped for Speeding

Posted on: 12/26/2012

It happens surprisingly often: Out-of-state drug traffickers speeding on Ohio highways, often with predictable results, it happened twice in recent days, once near Marietta.

A trooper from the Marietta post of the State Highway Patrol stopped a 2002 Honda Accord for speeding on I-77 near Macksburg, late on Christmas Eve. The scent of smoked marijuana gave the Patrol probable cause to search the car, with assistance from a Washington County Sheriff's Office K-9 unit.

Troopers found more than one hundred oxycodone pills, along with small amounts of methampethamine and marijuana, various pieces of drug paraphernalia and what they called "trafficking items."

Lt. Carlos Smith says a man and woman from Greenville, North Carolina, both in their 20s, were arrested on several felony drug charges and taken to the Washington County Jail where they spent Christmas, pending a bond hearing today.

According to Lt. Smith, the pair could face up to eleven years in prison if convicted.

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Meanwhile, the Highway Patrol in Columbus says another alleged drug trafficker with a lead food was busted in western Ohio on Monday.

Lt. Anne Ralston says a trooper clocked a 2013 Chevrolet Captiva traveling at 89 miles per hour in a 65 zone on I-75 in Miami County. As the trooper tried to catch up with it, the driver became distracted and drove into the rear of a commercial truck.

Then, as troopers were conducting the crash investigation, they found several bags of hydroponically grown marijuana that had become dislodged from behind the bumper of the Chevy during the crash. The Patrol estimated the pot to be worth around $9,000.

The 27-year-old Kentucky man was taken to a Piqua hospital for treatment of his injuries and was charged with several felonies. He could face up to two years in prison upon conviction.