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$400K worth of cocaine seized during traffic stop

Monica Martinez

ENLARGE PHOTO

Leonardo Garcia

ENLARGE PHOTO

Marcela Castello Barreda

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Justin McClelland, Staff Writer Updated 2:59 PM Wednesday, July 28, 2010

LEBANON — Two women and a man will appear in Warren County Court tomorrow, July 29, after allegedly being caught transporting $400,000 worth of cocaine through Warren County.

Four kilos of cocaine, with an estimated value of $400,000, was seized Tuesday, July 27, by the Ohio Highway Patrol after troopers pulled over a car that was allegedly being used to carry the drugs.

Troopers stopped a 2002 Chevy Tahoe, with Arkansas registration and occupied by one man and two women, for a marked lanes violation on the Interstate 71, near milepost 41 in Massie Twp., close to the border of Warren and Clinton counties. Troopers observed criminal indicators and a patrol drug-sniffing canine alerted to the vehicle, the highway patrol said. A patrol spokesman declined to describe what the indicators were. A probable cause search revealed four kilos of cocaine, troopers said.

The driver of the vehicle, Monica Martinez, 29, and passenger Marcela Castello Barreda, 21, both of Little Rock, Ark., and a second passenger, Leonardo Garcia, 25, of Columbus, Ohio, were charged with aggravated trafficking in cocaine and possession of cocaine, both first-degree felonies; and possession of criminal tools, a fifth degree felony, according to police.

All three suspects are being in the Warren County Jail on a $200,000 cash bond and will appear at 10 a.m., Thursday, in Warren County court. If convicted, they could each face up to 21 years in prison and a $42,500 fine.

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