A state lawmaker proposed legislation to make it illegal to have secret compartments in cars,10TV’s AJ Smith reported on Monday.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol said that drugs are moving across the country in hidden compartments in cars bringing more drugs onto Columbus streets.
Troopers are trying to find new ways to crackdown on the trafficking.
“Drugs are moving across this country, and Ohio is really in the thick of it,” Lt. Anne Ralston said. “It’s ever-changing. We have seen drug traffickers over the years become more sophisticated.”
Investigators said that some cars carrying drugs have secret compartments in places such as behind taillights.
Republican State Sen. Jim Hughes gave an example from 2010 when drug-sniffing dogs detected drugs in a car, but troopers could not find anything.
Six kilos of cocaine were found behind the taillights in a hidden compartment.
“That’s why we’re trying to stop this and that should protect our families,” Hughes said. “These hidden compartments that somebody is making is what these are. These aren’t the natural compartments that actually the manufacturer made.”
Under the proposed law, having the compartments would be illegal, which would make law enforcement officials able to prosecute possible drug traffickers.
“Let’s say we stop a vehicle and we find a hidden compartment and there are no drugs in it,” Ralston said. “We know that they probably already dropped off the drugs or they’re going to pick up the drugs.”
If the bill passes, having a car with hidden compartments would be a fourth-degree felony.
If convicted, a person could spend up to 18 months in jail and owe a $5,000 fine.
Hughes said that he hoped to have the law passed by summer.
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Criminals Hiding Drugs In Secret Car Compartments
Lawmakers propose legislation to make hidden compartments in cars illegal. Get the story.