OSHP troopers seize cocaine in Scioto County

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — Two men from West Virginia face felony drug charges after Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers seized two ounces of cocaine, worth an estimated $4,500, after a traffic stop in Scioto County.

Troopers stopped a 1997 Dodge Ram pickup truck, with West Virginia registration, for a vehicle-defect violation on U.S. Route 23, at 6:48 p.m. Friday. Criminal indicators were observed and a patrol drug-sniffing canine alerted to the vehicle. A probable-cause search revealed two ounces of cocaine located in a tool box in the vehicle’s trunk.

The driver, Mark Trogdon, 52, of Wayne, W.Va., and passenger, Van Lee Smith, 42, of Huntington, W. Va., were taken to Scioto County Jail, and charged with possession and trafficking in cocaine, both first-degree felonies.