He was not listed as an inmate in Clark County Jail Friday morning.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol began their investigation on June 7 when they pulled Barajas over on I-70 for assured clear distance ahead, an affidavit filed in municipal court says.
“The trooper made contact with the driver and identified him as the defendant, Juan Hernandez Barajas,” the affidavit says. “The trooper called a drug-sniffing K9 to the scene. Upon the K9 unit’s arrival, the K9 was deployed and gave a positive indication to the odor of illegal narcotics.”
Troopers found an orange air compressor in the bed of the truck that didn’t appear normal, the affidavit says.
“They had discovered a random wire coming from the tank,” the affidavit says. “Due to past intelligence of similar drug trafficking traps, they hooked up a battery to the wire and the tank opened. Inside the tank was a large quantity of US currency wrapped in plastic.”
A search warrant was obtained for Barajas’ place of employment in New Carlisle, the affidavit says, and detectives found more money.
OSP also found “empty kilo wrapping containers, a bag of white substance suspected to be cocaine and a digital scale” in the office, according to the affidavit. Detectives also found a large bag of suspected heroin described as weighing approximately 100 grams inside the glove box of a truck on the property, the affidavit says.
A next court date in the case had not been set.
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