Ohio State Highway Patrol
Media Release

 

General Headquarters — Columbus, Ohio

 


For Immediate Release: November 26, 2003
Contact: Lt. Tony Bradshaw (614) 752-2792

 

Patrol seizes 36 kilos of cocaine worth $3.6 million
TOLEDO – An Indiana woman and an Illinois man will appear in the Maumee Municipal Court today after Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers seized 36 kilos of cocaine on Interstate 80 in Lucas County.

Luzmaria Cardenas, 54, of Lake Station, Ind., and Manuel C. Razo, 58, of Oak Lawn, Ill., were each charged with possession of cocaine and trafficking of cocaine, both first-degree felonies, and possession of criminal tools, a fifth-degree felony.

Troopers stopped a 1999 Ford Explorer, driven by Razo, for a marked lane violation on eastbound Interstate 80, milepost 57, in Lucas County at 10:03 a.m. yesterday. A Patrol drug-detecting canine alerted to the Explorer and a probable cause search revealed 36 kilos of cocaine in the cargo area of the vehicle. The cocaine has an estimated street value of approximately $3.6 million.

Cardenas and Razo were incarcerated at the Lucas County Justice Center. If convicted, each could face up to 21 years in prison and up to a $42,500 fine.

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03-266


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