Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers filed felony drug charges against two women after they found four pounds of heroin valued at $300,000 in their car.
OSHP said on July 8, they pulled over a 2008 Nissan Altima with Arizona registration for an impeding traffic violation on Interstate 275 in Hamilton County, about 20 minutes northeast of Cincinnati. Troopers said they observed criminal indicators, and a patrol drug-sniffing canine alerted to the car. Authorities said they found the heroin during a probable cause search.
The driver, Gloria Lopez, 25, of Tucson, Arizona, and the passenger, Lizbeth Sophia Morales, 19, of Losarcos Sierra Vista, Arizona, were taken to the Hamilton County Jail and charged with possession and trafficking of heroin, according to officials.
The women also received charges for operating a vehicle with a false compartment, authorities said. In 2012, Senate Bill 305 prohibited designing, building, constructing, fabricating, modifying or altering a vehicle to create or add a hidden compartment with the intent to conceal or transport a controlled substance. It also prohibited operating, possessing or using a vehicle with a hidden compartment knowing the compartment was being used to conceal or transport controlled substances.
