News Release

For further information please contact: Sergeant Mike Watson
(417) 359-1500 ext.2229
DS2009-2
February 2, 2009

EMPHASIS: Cocaine Seizure At Newton County Weigh Station


On January 30, 2009, at approximately 4:50 p.m., a Missouri State Highway Patrol commercial vehicle officer stopped the driver of an eastbound 1995 Volvo tractor-trailer unit for a routine inspection at the weigh station on Interstate 44 in Newton County. During conversation with the driver and passenger, the commercial vehicle officer became suspicious of criminal activity and requested a trooper and an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration respond to the weigh station. The officers were then granted consent to search the tractor-trailer unit. Located in the trailer were 227 kilogram-sized bundles of cocaine concealed within the load of produce.

The driver, Eddie J. Dorantes, 41, Las Vegas, Nevada, and passenger Oscar F. Chong-Aguirre, 52, Las Vegas, Nevada, were arrested for first-degree drug trafficking and transported to the Newton County Jail, Neosho, Missouri.

The charges for which Eddie J. Dorantes and Oscar F. Chong-Aguirre were arrested are mere accusations and are not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of the charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction whose duty it is to determine guilt or innocence.




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