HENRY COUNTY — An Ohio man who told sheriff’s deputies he is a carpenter was caught with half a pound of heroin hidden inside a piece of lumber in his car during a traffic stop, reports state.
Members of the Proactive Criminal Enforcement (PACE) team, a multi-jurisdiction task force patrolling Interstate 70 looking for drug-traffickers, arrested Porfirio Diaz, 59, of Columbus, Ohio, on Monday after officers found about 250 grams (a half pound) of heroin and 86 grams of crystal methamphetamine in his car during a traffic stop on I-70 in Henry County, officers said.
Hancock County Sheriff’s Department deputy Nick Ernstes stopped the car in Henry County on Monday morning along westbound I-70.
Ernstes suspected criminal activity, and he asked Diaz, the driver, to get out of the car after pulling him over. He called Henry County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. James Goodwin, a K-9 handler, to help him search the car.
Goodwin and his K-9, Scarlet, walked around the vehicle, and Scarlet detected drugs inside, a news release states.
In the back of the vehicle, deputies found several tools and pieces of lumber, including a 4-by-4 wooden post that appeared to have been tampered with and glued back together. Deputies also found wood glue. Diaz told officers he is a carpenter, the news release states.
When deputies cut open the block of wood, they found two large bundles wrapped in plastic. Heroin and crystal methamphetamine were inside those bundles. The drugs have a street value of $33,000, the news release states.
Diaz was transported to the Henry County Sheriff’s Department, where he was arrested for dealing a controlled substance and dealing methamphetamine, both Level 2 felonies.
He was booked into the Henry County Jail, where he remained at press time.
