TOLEDO – Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers seized 18 kilos of cocaine, valued at $1.8 million, during a traffic stop yesterday on the Ohio Turnpike in Lucas County. Two suspects will appear today in the Maumee Municipal Court on various felony charges associated with the case.

Sylvia Samaniego-Barraza, 46, of El Paso, Texas, and Jose Gonzalez-Echeverria, 49, of Oklahoma City, Okla., are each charged with possession of cocaine and trafficking in cocaine, both first-degree felonies, and possession of criminal tools, a fifth-degree felony.

A trooper stopped a 2003 Dodge Ram pickup truck, driven by Samaniego-Barraza, for marked lanes and registration violations eastbound on the Ohio Turnpike near milepost 57 at 1:36 p.m. yesterday. Criminal indicators were observed, and a Patrol drug-detecting canine alerted to the vehicle. A probable cause search revealed 18 kilos of cocaine inside the passenger compartment. The cocaine has an estimated street value of $1.8 million.

Both suspects were incarcerated at the Lucas County Jail. If convicted on all charges, each suspect could face up to 21 years in prison and up to a $42,500 fine.

Through August 2006, state troopers had seized 4.2 million grams of illegal narcotics, valued at $34.5 million. Drug seizures (by grams) are up 9 percent from the previous three-year average.

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