Police now say trio caught with $16K won't face drug charges

YOUNGSTOWN — Police now say three men of Guatemalan descent who were taken into custody about 7:20 p.m. Tuesday after officers responded to a call for a suspicious vehicle who had more than $16,000 in cash will most likely not face drug charges.

Chief Robin Lees said the three will not face those charges as investigators continue to probe what the men were doing here and why they had so much cash and yet no way to explain where they got it from.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service was contacted to interview the men, Lees said.

The three were taken into custody after officers responding to a call saw them driving in the opposite direction in a truck that was called in as a suspicious vehicle in the 1500 block of Wakefield Drive.

The truck was pulled over on an Interstate 680 North on ramp and the three were detained after pills were found in the car. Lees said the pills will be tested to see if they are illegal and police will be investigating.

It is not yet clear if immigration officials will seek to hold the men in jail until they can talk to them.