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DEA arrests 3 in Austintown, places 4 kids in protective custody
By AMANDA TONOLI
AUSTINTOWN
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officers arrested three people suspected of bringing cocaine from Texas to Ohio at an Austintown home Tuesday.
During the arrest, they found four children in the Notre Dame Drive home, who were placed in the custody of Mahoning County Children Services.
The DEA agents arrested Bruce Cuevas Sr., 61, Jose G. Martinez, 41, and Lilia Comacho-Jimenez, 31. They are all charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.
They were arraigned Tuesday afternoon before Magistrate George J. Limbert in the Thomas D. Lambros Federal Building and Courthouse, 125 Market St.
Comacho-Jimenez was released on a $20,000 unsecured bond, and Cuevas will be released on a $20,000 unsecured bond once a land-line is set up at his home for house arrest.
Martinez was ordered to be detained and remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal, pending further hearings.
All three will have another hearing Friday afternoon.
This arrest follows an investigation that began in March 2015.
U.S. District Court Judge Benita Y. Pearson signed an order authorizing a phone tap in March for calls between Martinez and a man in Irving, Calif., in connection with the case, according to a federal affidavit.
After surveillance, agents determined cocaine was transported in April from Texas to Martinez’s Austintown home, 574 Notre Dame Drive.
According to the affidavit, Cuevas transported the cocaine from Martinez’s home to Cuevas’ home on Osborn Avenue home in Youngstown.
The drug shortly after was then given to an unindicted man who was pulled over by Ohio State Highway Patrol on Interstate 71 southbound in Wayne County.
State troopers used a drug-sniffing dog and found the cocaine, the affidavit says.
After the evidence was taken, it was determined there was more than 8,136 grams of cocaine in seven packages taped inside the car’s speaker box.
Federal authorities did not reveal why the delay between April and the arrests. DEA say they also don’t give out case information until the case is completed.
Randall Muth, Children Services Board executive director, said the four children in the home were relocated to emergency protective custody.