An Arizona woman, Andrea Celaya-Rodriguez, 28, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to narcotics charges related to transporting a truckload of cocaine from Arizona to Ohio. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, Celaya-Rodriguez was caught with 50 kilograms of cocaine, which she had been transporting in a moving truck.
On March 22, 2024, Celaya-Rodriguez was stopped by the Ohio State Highway Patrol while driving a rented Penske box truck on Interstate 70 in Madison County. Authorities noted that the truck, rented a few days earlier in Tucson, was scheduled to be returned to Arizona within four days.
During the traffic stop, a drug-sniffing dog alerted officers to the presence of narcotics, leading them to search the vehicle. Inside the truck, authorities discovered a sectional couch, a suitcase, and a produce bin covered with a blanket. Upon further investigation, three duffel bags containing 50 kilogram packages of cocaine were found.
Following her arrest, Celaya-Rodriguez admitted to federal agents that she was transporting the drugs to New York in exchange for $50,000. She told agents that the payment offer came from a man she had met in Mexico two weeks earlier.
As part of her plea agreement, Celaya-Rodriguez faces a recommended sentence of 33 to 41 months in prison.
