Cocaine raid is conducted in Marlboro

The Review

Five Mexican nationals who entered the United States illegally were apprehended, including a 6-year-old boy, in relation to a drug seizure in the village of Marlboro in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

According to information from Marlboro Township Police Chief Ron Devies, Marlboro police officers aided agents from the Youngstown office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mahoning County Drug Task Force and the Alliance Police Department at 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday in the execution of a search warrant at 12441 Beechlawn Ave. N.E. in the village of Marlboro.

In executing a search warrant out of Alliance Municipal Court, officers seized a large amount of cocaine. During the raid, six persons fled the residence and were pursued on foot by the officers.

Five of the Mexican nationals were later apprehended, two of which were females, plus two males and one 6-year-old child.

Included in those arrested were Adolfo Barragan-Rodriguez of Apple Valley, Calif., and Mexican foreign nationals Jose Guadalupe Sandoval Perez of Mexicali Baha California, Mexico; Candelaria Gastelum de Iribe of Sinaloa, Mexico; and Cristina Yudith Gastelum Lopez of Mexicali Baha California, Mexico.

One Mexican male was picked up by Mahoning County agents in the 10,000 block of Edison Street between 7 and 7:30 a.m. and the remaining four Mexicans were arrested by FBI agents and Marlboro and Alliance police officers in the 12,600 block of Marlboro Avenue between 9 and 9:30 a.m.

Marlboro Local Schools provided Marlboro police with an interpreter to aid the FBI and Stark County Child Protective Services in interviewing the apprehended subjects. The child was transferred to the custody of Mahoning County Children's officials and the Mexican nationals were being held in the Struthers City Jail where they were to be arraigned Wednesday in a Youngstown Federal Court on charges of federal drug trafficking.

Another subject, known as Joseph Host, of the Beechlawn address, remained at large and a federal arrest warrant has been issued for him. At approximately noon on Tuesday, a resident in the 8800 block of Allen Drive in Marlboro Township reported seeing a person matching Host's description near a wooded area on Allen Drive. Marlboro police officers responded and engaged the suspect dressed in a black T-shirt and shorts and chased him on foot into a briar-covered, mosquito infested swamp. The Alliance Police Department was requested to return with a canine, and the Marlboro officers were also assisted in the search by rangers from the Stark Parks Department.

As the canine lost the scent in the swampy terrain, off duty Marlboro police officers were summoned and a request went out to the Marlboro Fire Department for the use of its all-terrain vehicle. The search for the suspect continued for approximately five hours before being abandoned.

Anyone having information on the location of Joseph Host is asked to contact the Youngstown office of the FBI at (330) 965-2940, the Mahoning County Drug Task Force, the Alliance Police Department at (330) 821-9140 or the Marlboro Police Department at (330) 935-2830

http://www.the-review.com/news/article/2580341