An Arizona woman faces serious charges after being caught with 26 pounds of drugs during a traffic stop in Cooper County, Missouri.
Joanna Fabian, 33, from Maricopa, Arizona, has been charged with two counts of first-degree drug trafficking and one count of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. According to court documents, the arrest occurred Saturday afternoon when a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper stopped Fabian’s vehicle in the parking lot of Eagle Stop on Kole Court in Boonville.
Fabian claimed she had rented the car in Arizona and was headed to Ohio. However, the trooper noticed several signs of nervousness, including rapid speech, short and shallow breathing, and visible shaking. Additionally, her carotid artery was seen pulsing in her neck. An eight-month-old child, identified as Fabian’s, was in the back seat.
When Fabian denied the trooper permission to search her vehicle, a K9 officer was called in. The dog alerted officers to the presence of narcotics, leading to the discovery of a suitcase in the vehicle’s cargo area. Inside the suitcase were nine sealed packages—six containing 17 pounds of cocaine and three containing 9 pounds of heroin.
Fabian was arrested and the child was handed over to the Division of Family Services.
