MALAGA, Ohio — The Monroe County Criminal Interdiction Unit arrested two individuals from Mexico during a traffic stop along State Route 800 near Malaga on Thursday, August 14.
According to Sheriff Derek Norman, deputies pulled over a vehicle when K-9 Max alerted to the presence of narcotics. A subsequent search uncovered approximately six grams of suspected cocaine and 15 grams of suspected methamphetamine.
The driver, Samuel Rios Maldonado, and passenger, Esther Vargas, were taken into custody and are being held at the Monroe County Jail on two counts of drug possession.
Authorities said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has also placed an active arrest warrant on Maldonado for immigration violations.
