Local News in Brief : Driver Caught With Drugs
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A motorist’s inability to produce identification after he was stopped for speeding in Malibu led to the discovery of $1.2 million in cocaine in his car, the California Highway Patrol said.
Joe Jesse Ramirez, 40, was pulled over on Pacific Coast Highway shortly after noon Thursday and, when he couldn’t show any identification, he was taken to the Malibu Sheriff’s Station, CHP Officer Cliff Williams said. Officers there discovered that Ramirez was carrying $1,200 in cash and a beeper, Williams said.
“Cocaine is such big business that a lot of the dealers carry beepers now, so we decided to take a closer look at the car,” he said.
When police opened a cardboard box in the back seat of the Dodge station wagon, they discovered four kilograms of cocaine and $42,000 in cash, Williams said.
Ramirez, who was arrested on suspicion of selling and transporting an illegal substance, was being held Friday in lieu of $250,000 bail.
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