UPDATE @ 2:09 p.m.: Four people arrested Friday on suspicion of heroin possession and immigration charges remain in the Montgomery County Jail on Monday evening, officials said.
The two men and two women were arrested after the Miami Valley Bulk Smuggling Task Force received a tip about their drug activity, said Mike Brem of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and a task force member.
Susana Castro Beltran and Angelica Perez Martinez are accused of hiding about 2 kilos (approximately 4.4 pounds) of heroin — worth more than $400,000, officials say — in their body cavities and flew to Dayton from Mexico, Brem said.
Jose Herrera Mercado and Fernando Villegas Montoya, both of whom drove to Dayton from California, are accused of meeting the women at a local hotel where they extracted the drugs from their bodies.
Mercado and Montoya were supposed to then deliver the drugs to a Dayton-area contact for distribution, Brem said, noting that they were all arrested before they could distribute the drugs.
FIRST REPORT (Aug. 6)
More than $400,000 worth of heroin was seized and four people were arrested, including three illegal immigrants, according to the Miami Valley Bulk Smuggling Task Force.
The arrests happened Friday at a Dayton area hotel after investigators observed “criminal indicators that led them to believe they were smuggling narcotics,” according to the statement from the task force.
Four people were arrested on suspicion of heroin possession: Jose Herrera Mercado, Fernando Villegas Montoya, Susana Castro Beltran and Angelica Perez Martinez.
Authorities said three of the four suspects are from Mexico illegally and are being held on immigration charges.
The bulk smuggling task force comprises officers from Montgomery County, Ohio Highway Patrol, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
