Flash player is required to view weather conditions. Download

site web  

MONROE — A tip from federal drug agents in Missouri led to the arrest of three Cincinnati men and the seizure of at least 200 pounds of marijuana and two vehicles during a drug bust at a Monroe truck stop at the Route 63/Interstate 75 interchange late Friday afternoon, March 28.

Warren County Sheriff Tom Ariss said the federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Joplin, Mo., alerted the Cincinnati DEA office about the shipment of drugs in a semi-truck, and that agents from Springfield, Mo., followed the cargo on Friday, March 28, to the Stoney Ridge Truck Stop on Route 63.

The drugs, which Ariss said had a street value of about $250,000, were found spooled inside four large tires for an all-terrain vehicle, he said.

Teams of DEA agents from Dayton and Cincinnati as well as FBI agents from Cincinnati, sheriff's deputies from Warren and Butler counties and the Warren County Drug Task Force arrested the men during the delivery attempt.

Arrested were Antonio Cabrera, 24; his brother Federico, 25; and Terrance L. Schooler, 22; all of Cincinnati. They all were charged with possession and trafficking of marijuana and are being held in the Warren County Jail in Lebanon in lieu of $30,000 cash or surety bond each, according to Sheriff's Lt. Timothy Johnson.

The three are slated for an initial appearance on Monday, March 31, in Lebanon Municipal Court, Johnson said.

Ariss said the driver of the truck was taken into custody by federal agents. He had no other information on the driver.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or erichter@coxohio.com.