[420 Girl]

FAIRFIELD — Federal agents arrested a Cincinnati-area man after a drug bust at a local business Monday, Nov. 2 that netted more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana.

The bust occurred at Azteca Tile and Marble on Constitution Drive in Fairfield, where Kevin Howard, who’s in his late 20s, allegedly tried to move two crates with 670 pounds of marijuana inside, said Russ Neville, Cincinnati Drug Enforcement Agency resident in charge.

A couple of weeks ago, Houston DEA agents were checking shipping companies and came across some packages addressed from Pharr, Texas, Neville said. Three packages were to be shipped to Ohio – two to Fairfield and one to Toledo.

Before delivering the crates, Cincinnati DEA agents opened the Toledo-bound crate. Nearly 400 pounds of marijuana were inside.

Agents did not open the crates designated for Fairfield. Neville said it would be noticed if it was opened and resealed.

“The package that was going to Toledo was the exact same style crate, addressed the same way, the same type of handwriting, same shipper,” Neville said.

The Butler County Sheriff’s deputies helped conduct surveillance on Azteca prior to the crate delivery, which Neville said is believed to be a false company.

“When the delivery truck gets there, (Howard) gets a fork lift and brings it out of the business. He unloads the two crates and he puts them into a van. When he just gets ready to pull off, we arrest him right there in the parking lot,” Neville said.

Agents had a signed anticipatory search warrant that was executed at 10:45 a.m. Monday, he said.

Shipping manifests show 19 crates since June have been delivered to Fairfield. Neville said the company was also shipping similar crates to other areas of Texas and Georgia.

“This is definitely an organized shipper coming off the southwest border,” he said.

Neville couldn’t confirm if the drugs originated in Mexico, but said the majority of the marijuana in the United States comes from there.


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