OUT-OF-TOWN SUSPECTS Grand jury will weigh drug cases

YOUNGSTOWN -- Ten men and two women have been bound over to a federal grand jury on drug charges after a federal law enforcement task force arrested them locally.
The law enforcement officers seized 264 pounds of suspected cocaine with an estimated street value of $19 million to $36 million last week.
The suspects, who are in federal detention in local jails, were bound over by U.S. Magistrate George Limbert in Youngstown after preliminary hearings Friday. The suspects are all charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Many of the suspects are from the Chicago area. None lives in the Mahoning Valley.
A task force led by agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration made the arrests after finding the drug hidden in secret compartments in four vehicles, two each in Liberty and Austintown, agents said.
"This seizure is significant by any standards anywhere in the world," said Douglas Lamplugh, agent in charge of the DEA office in Youngstown. "We've taken out a major trafficking organization," he said, adding that he believes most or all of the suspected cocaine was destined for Northeast Ohio.
What happened
On April 21, agents found two drug-carrying sport utility vehicles in a parking lot near Interstate 80 and Belmont Avenue in Liberty. The Ohio State Highway Patrol stopped another SUV on I-80 near state Route 46 in Austintown, Lamplugh said.
On April 22, agents found a drug-carrying car in a parking lot near I-80 and 46, he said. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Barr, who is based in Youngstown.
The suspects associated with the SUVs were identified as Juan J. Herrera, Gabriela Rocha, Ramon Toledo and David E. Aguilar, all of Chicago; Mario Francis Godina of Joliet, Ill.; Lecadio Leon of Franklin Park, Ill.; Moises Garcia of Stone Park, Ill.; and Paul J. Godina Sr. of Medaryville, Ind.
Also arrested in the drug seizure when the car was pulled over were Martin Gil Rodriguez and Marival Contreras, both of Illinois, and Tiberio Lopez-Valle and Freddy Cazares, for whom no addresses were available. Hometowns were not available for Rodriguez and Contreras. A DEA news release didn't give the ages of the suspects.
The DEA Youngstown Task Force consists of DEA and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification agents, and officers from Salem, Warren, Boardman, Canfield, Youngstown, Poland village and Beaver Township police departments.