News Release

For further information please contact: Sergeant Dale H. Moreland
(573) 840-9500
E092950
September 29, 2008

EMPHASIS: Traffic Stop On I-55 Results In Drug Arrests



On September 27, 2008, at approximately 12:50 a.m. a member of the Missouri State Highway Patrol stopped a 2007 Hyundai traveling north on Interstate 55 in New Madrid County for traffic violations.
The driver Juan Padilla, 36, of Chicago, Illinois, was stopped for traffic violations. During the course of the traffic stop, permission to search was requested and refused. A Patrol K-9 responded to the scene and gave a positive indication for drugs in the vehicle. A subsequent search revealed 130 pounds of processed marijuana. Juan Padilla and Melinda N. Padilla, 20, of Cicero, Illinois, a passenger, were arrested for drug trafficking and endangering the welfare of a child, and taken to the New Madrid County Jail.
The charges for which Juan Padilla and Melinda N. Padilla were arrested are mere accusation and not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.



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