Troopers seize kilo of cocaine on turnpike in Lake Township

Two men are facing felony drug charges after Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers seized on Wednesday a kilo of cocaine, worth approximately $100,000 during a traffic stop on the Ohio Turnpike.

Troopers stopped a rented 2013 Toyota Camry, with Illinois registration, for a marked lanes violation on the Ohio Turnpike near milepost 74 in Lake Township at 9:48 a.m. Criminal indicators were observed and a Patrol drug-sniffing canine alerted to the vehicle. A probable cause search revealed the cocaine inside a shoebox in the vehicle’s trunk.

The driver, Robert D. Hammond, 29, of Akron, and passenger Eric M. Strickland, 45, of Chicago, were taken to the Wood County Jail and charged with drug abuse and trafficking in drugs, both first-degree felonies.

If convicted each faces up to 20 years in prison and up to a $40,000 fine.