Butler County grand jury gets case of 2 charged with drug trafficking

K-9 discovered illegal drugs after driver, passenger displayed ‘nervous behavior.’

HAMILTON — The cases against two men charged with drug trafficking after they were found with enough fentanyl to kill 1.5 million people were bound over to a Butler County grand jury.

The driver of the stopped car, Luis Hernandez-Ramos, 33, and passenger, Douglas Mancias-Martinez, 27, were stopped Oct. 14 on Ohio 4 in the city of Monroe by Butler County Sheriff’s deputies. They both had Mexican driver’s licenses, provided conflicting stories and displayed “nervous behavior,” which led to a K-9 vehicle search, Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones said.

They appeared for their preliminary hearings Wednesday before Area II Court Judge Kevin McDonnough, who found enough evidence to bound their cases over.

Credit: McCrabb, Richard (COP-Dayton)

Credit: McCrabb, Richard (COP-Dayton)

The K-9 alerted and resulted in the seizure of three kilos of fentanyl in vacuum-sealed packages with a street value of $500,000. The driver and passenger were arrested and booked into the Butler County Jail for possession of drugs and trafficking in drugs, first-degree felonies.

Credit: McCrabb, Richard (COP-Dayton)

Credit: McCrabb, Richard (COP-Dayton)

The two were arraigned by video when bond for each was set at $40,000, according to court records. They are being detained on an ICE holder.

Jones said that much fentanyl would kill even more people after it was cut and mixed with different chemicals. He called it “one of our biggest drug busts.”

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