General Headquarters — Columbus, Ohio

 

For Immediate Release: July 31, 2003
Contact: Lt. Tony Bradshaw (614) 752-2792

 

Patrol seizes marijuana worth over $180,000

CINCINNATI – Two Tucson, Ariz. men are scheduled to appear today in the Hamilton County Municipal Court after Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers seized over $180,000 worth of marijuana yesterday morning on Interstate 74 in Hamilton County.

Albert Llamas, Jr., 19, and Robert Hamilton, 24, were each charged with possession of marijuana and trafficking marijuana, both second-degree felonies, and possession of criminal tools, a fifth-degree felony.

Troopers stopped a 2000 Daewoo Leganza driven by Llamas, for a marked lanes violation and a 1996 Dodge Stratus driven by Hamilton, for a marked lanes violation and following too close, on eastbound Interstate 74, milepost 1, in Hamilton County at 9:54 a.m. yesterday. Patrol drug-detecting canines alerted to the Stratus, and a probable cause search revealed 80 pounds of marijuana in duffle bags in the trunk. The marijuana has an estimated street value of approximately $180,000.

Llamas and Hamilton were incarcerated at the Hamilton County Jail. If convicted, each could face up to 21 years in prison, and up to a $32,500 fine.

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03-169

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