MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL
a division of the
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

Troop E Headquarters - 4947 Highway 67 North - Poplar Bluff, MO 63901


News Release

For further information please contact: Trooper Clark D. Parrott
(573) 840-9500, Ext. 221
11301151
November 30, 2011

EMPHASIS: Traffic Stop On Interstate 55 Results In Drug Arrest


On November 28, 2011, at approximately 12:02 a.m., a member of the Missouri State Highway Patrol stopped a 2003 Ford F-350 pick-up truck traveling northbound on Interstate 55 in Pemiscot County for a traffic violation.

The driver was identified as Manuel P. Rivera, 43, of Houston, Texas. During the course of the traffic stop, the trooper became suspicious; therefore, permission to search the truck was requested and granted. During the subsequent search of the truck by Patrol K-9 Edy, approximately 100 pounds of processed marijuana and four kilograms of cocaine were located in a locked toolbox in the bed of the truck. Rivera and his passenger, Lorena Ibarra, 36, of Beach Pike, Illinois, were arrested for multiple charges of drug trafficking.

The charges for which Rivera and Ibarra were arrested for are mere accusations 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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