I'm going to have you come back here with me real quick. No weapons or anything like that on you. You guys don't have anything illegal in the car, do you? Nothing to be concerned about. >> Yeah, they're nervous. Check that out. >> Check it. Where's that at? >> Her purse. Oops. Don't go to prison for them thinking they would help you out in any way because they're not >> Friday, April 22nd, 2022. Sciota County, Ohio. As part of Operation Bridge, a joint initiative against trafficking, troopers were monitoring State Route 823, a corridor widely used to move narcotics from Detroit into southern Ohio. Amongst the vehicles stopped that day was a Nissan Rogue with Massachusetts plates. What began as a simple traffic violation would soon raise far more serious questions. I'm Tyler and this is your daily dose of crime. lot of a lot of a lot of problems getting a driver's license. >> I'm sorry. >> Oh, you're all right. Didn't >> this a rental vehicle, man? >> Yes. >> Did you rent the car? >> She did. >> You did? You had your rental with by any chance? >> Thank you. Thank you, man. >> What's that? >> Uh, you haven't used the turn signal the whole time. Like, you got off of the exit back there. When I was passing you guys, I noticed you like almost missed the exit and jumped over to use a turn signal there. And then when I got up behind you coming over, you made a lane change from the left lane to the right lane. You didn't use turn signal there. And then you had crossed over the white fog line go around this curb back there. So, >> I have suspicion and I really >> Do you have uh a driver's license or just an ID card? That That's my ID card. But when you run it, >> it'll show a driver's license. I have to What's your name, ma'am? >> I'm sorry. >> Bridget, >> got to figure out what it says. We got to run this thing. [Applause] >> Behind the wheel was Porsche P. Taylor, age 29, a resident of Detroit. She was traveling with her sister Bridget. also identified by the officers. Both claimed they were heading to the east coast, though their versions of the trip did not match. The stop unfolded within the framework of Operation Bridge, a regional effort aimed at disrupting opioid trafficking routes. Detroit, the starting point of their journey has become a central hub in these networks from where private vehicles move loads of narcotics into Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. For the troopers on scene, this was no longer a simple traffic violation. The occupants profiles, the origin of the trip, and the operational context already suggested something larger at play. >> Ma'am, I'm going to have you come back here with me real quick. >> Yeah. That way, if I have do have any questions with it, >> no weapons or anything like that on you. I'll have you stand over right here. Um, where are you guys headed to? >> I'm headed home. >> Where's home at? >> Home is in West Virginia. >> Yeah. >> I'm transitioning. >> Gotcha. >> Huntington. >> Where you are you coming from Detroit now? >> Yes. >> Who do you have up there with you? >> My sister. >> That's your sister. >> Yes. >> Okay. All righty. All right. Just have a seat back here for me real quick and go up grab her ID. How long you guys been in Detroit for? >> 14 hours. >> No, I mean just you said you went up from Huntington. >> Yeah. >> How long you guys up there? >> Um, a minute. I've been there two weeks. >> Okay. Ma'am, do you have any ID on you? You said you thought you had it with you. How you guys know each other? >> My sister. >> Oh, it's your sister. >> Uhhuh. Okay. Where you guys? You coming from Detroit now? >> Mhm. >> Where you guys headed to? >> We going to go up here to West Virginia. See my cousin. >> What is it? >> He's going to see my cousin. >> See your cousin down in West Virginia. What part of West Virginia you guys headed to? >> I can't tell you that. >> I'm sorry. I can't hear you very well. >> We had it on. We had it on map. >> Oh, okay. And so that's what that's where that's what you had seen when you had the past. We had >> Does she live in Does she live in Detroit still? Or where does she live at? >> What is it? >> Yeah. >> She lives in Detroit. >> Yeah. >> Okay. All right. Sit tight for me. Okay. >> I'm going to run this real quick. >> Yeah. >> I'm going to get him. >> Ma'am, you guys don't have anything illegal in the car, do you? Nothing to be concerned about. I'm working with a canine handler today. I'll probably just have him run the dog around the car for me real fast. Okay. >> Um, so does she know you live in Huntington? She's telling me you still live in Detroit. >> Well, honey, I do my own thing. I'm a traveling nurse. >> Traveling nurse. Okay. Okay. I just asked her if you where you lived at. She said you've always been Detroit. >> I live in Detroit, but I live in. So, I can show you my >> No, you're fine. You're fine. I just asked her. She just said you stayed in Detroit all the time. >> As the officers compared their answers, the first contradiction surfaced. Porsche insisted they were coming back from Detroit, while Bridget claimed they were heading to Philadelphia to visit cousins in Virginia. In drug interdiction operations, such inconsistencies are rarely overlooked. They're common signs of concealment. Records also showed the vehicle was rented and registered in Massachusetts, a frequent tactic amongst trafficking networks to complicate the operation. Faced with these signals, the trooper escalated the stop and advised that a K-9 unit would be deployed. A tool central to Operation Bridge, capable of turning a routine stop into a full-scale investigation. What do you guys do for a living? >> Okay, I can't hear you. I I'll ask you. I can't hear you because of this window. Once you put him up, I'll get you her over this door, man. You can You're fine. You got real. You can relax. >> You guys smoke anything. Look like I might miss some little bit of weed dude down there. >> Yeah, that probably came. We just rented the car. >> Rented the car. Probably came from there. I mean, I don't smell like right if I can get it or not. I can't get down in there, but it looks like a little piece right there. >> Yeah. I mean, I Well, a dog will smell that. And >> obviously I can't smell that. But um >> All right. Um >> smoking weed smoking weed. >> Okay. Um I'm going to get you out real quick. Patch you down. I couldn't hear you. Have you ever been in trouble before? >> No. >> Okay. What did you say you do for a living? >> I'm environment. >> Okay. You're you're fine. >> Little piece of >> You can slide those on. >> Oh >> yeah. Yeah, I don't want you standing barefoot. Have you stand in front of the car there? I'm just going to pat you down. You're fine, ma'am. You can just relax. Put these gloves on real quick. I'm just going to explain how you guys I'm going to do. I'm going to check around your bra area, front of your waistband, up between your legs. I'm going use the back side of my hand to do all that. Okay. Nothing on you. Stay here and poke me. Nothing like that. No. >> Okay. Just face that direction there for me. Okay. Take one step back. There we go. That just uh cigarette, whatever. Okay. Hand sanitizer. All right. This part gets a little uncomfortable. I need you to stand like this. I'm going to check out between your legs. There you go. Perfect. Just stand. Yeah. Straight up. There you go. And you don't have anything to seal in front of your pants. Nothing like that. Nothing inside of you. Nothing like that. Yeah, you're fine. You're fine. >> Ma'am, I didn't get a chance to pat you down. I'll have you step out real quick. >> I got to step in front of the car here for me real fast. >> That was like a little piece of underneath her seat when the the dog hit on the car. Um, she said you guys >> So I I I don't I don't y'all search the car somewhere else. I have to be. That is why I wasn't thinking of condition. >> Okay, we'll try to hurry. Hold it. Okay, we we'll try to hurry. Face that direction there for me. Okay. >> The decision to bring in a K-9 captured the essence of Operation Bridge, detecting what would otherwise go unnoticed. Sciota County had already been flagged in intelligence reports as a critical corridor for shipments leaving Detroit. and the circumstances surrounding this vehicle fit that profile. Outofate plates and a rental car not only made tracking more difficult, they also suggested an effort to create distance between the occupants and the cargo being transported. Tension grew as the sisters explanation failed to align. Couriers and networks will often find themselves caught between loyalty to those who recruited them and the fear of being discovered. That combination of forced calm and underlying anxiety is exactly what troopers look for during a stop. Hesitations, small gestures, and silences that taken together hinted something far more serious than a traffic violation. >> Want to check around your bra area, front of your waistband, up between your legs. I'm going to use the back side of my hand to do all that. You don't have anything that's going to stick your p nothing like that? >> No. >> Just face that direction there for me. All right. Keep your head up. I don't want to stick you in the face here. How long you guys stand down in Huntington for? >> I'll be there um probably for the remainder of the week. >> Okay. Go back home. >> Widen your stance like this. I got to check out between your legs. All right. So, the wider you get my panties. So, >> what is it? >> I don't even have my panties. >> Okay. If you can get >> Yeah. If you can get a little like white. There you go. Perfect. Thank you. You don't have anything to seal in front of your pants. Nothing like that. I mean, >> no, that's fine. Have a seat back here for us. Hey, we Miranda him real fast. Why? >> But I haven't done either one of them yet. >> So if I'm not under, I don't have to. >> No, you got to sit in the car cuz you're being detained. [Applause] >> You see that passenger's neck? >> Yeah. Wow. >> Yep. Yeah. They're nervous >> for sure. They probably have it on them because that's what I'm thinking. >> The driver doesn't want like when I asked her like you like basically, hey, do you care to just get check so we know? And she's like she starts looking around and >> she's already hesitant. And then she's like I mean if it gets us out of here quicker. >> She said I got she's already said I got I got pee. She said I got a medical condition. >> Passenger's neck was doing that when I was up here talking to her. >> Yeah. Not nearly as bad as when you were meandising her, but it was bad. Brisk seem pretty confident about the car. >> Yeah, I think so. >> You see any hopefully something? >> Yeah. Not >> might be a little bit of resident here in the seats. If not, >> passenger acting like he's okay with getting driver. >> Yeah. >> But you know how often they say, "Oh, yeah, sure. No problem. Yeah. Then they find out we're done. [Music] >> Yeah. >> Yeah. They're giving all the vibes. >> Yeah. >> That like doesn't want to shut the door. Doesn't want to sit in the car. >> Got to pee right off the rip. >> The read the rice is really bothering them. >> Yeah. >> They think they It's almost like they think we know something. >> Yeah. >> All right. Engine clear. >> Okay. >> I'll leave it open. See the glance at it. Probably under it. >> Under it. >> Check it. Where's that at? Her purse. Oh, her luggage. Do I need to check it? Nah, it's probably just a banana. >> You know which first? Uh that one lay on the seat there. Well, they probably don't have shove. Impressive if they do. What's all this stuff? >> Yeah, I was in this purse here. Is there any identifying stuff in it? And we'll take it back there and put on the hood and we just kind of maybe I'll say something about it. >> You want to have 802 come out? >> Yeah, if he's close. >> Yeah, I wanted you to meandize him and stuff while I was trying to get radio turned down and air conditioner turned up. >> The search of the vehicle had confirmed what until then had only been suspicion. A bag containing high purity. The 405 gram seized amounted to more than 200,000 potential doses, enough to devastate entire communities in southern Ohio. At that moment, the pressure on the occupants was undeniable. Their explanations no longer mattered in the face of a cargo with such destructive potential. For investigators, the discovery did more than confirm their suspicions. It exemplified how trafficking networks move highv value shipments by relying on couriers who attempt to blend in. >> Uh you guys bag is that the silver one there? >> They both >> They both your bags. Okay. First, I was a little worried about exactly what it was. >> I know. That's the first thing I thought. >> Pound. That's I'd say you call that a pound. I mean, I'm sure you take all the wrapping off. >> Probably looking at 400. That was close. Got camera. You >> know how many times I marked 802 and 984? >> I heard I had it turned off. >> Oh, hey. I I called him. >> Yeah. >> And he was calling. >> Yeah. I was heading north on 23 >> and it just looked like a rental vehicle. And I looked in my mirror and they missed the exit and she just swerves over real quick. So I flip around like you miss her exit. I come up here and she makes another lane change with no turn signaling. >> I don't have ahead. >> First name is Leslie. Lit. >> Somebody's blowing their phone up now. It's been rain. >> I say we leave them for now. They might want to show something to us if they want to work and if not >> there's this little piece of I don't have a door underneath the seat there. >> Yeah, the door. >> Yeah, I just take pictures of it. >> Yeah, everything. Bro, bro, >> Huntington, I'll grab it. Take a picture. The meticulous documentation of the seizure not only established its weight, but also pointed to its likely origin. Analysts at the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center had already identified Detroit as a primary source for shipments flowing into Sciota and other counties across southern Ohio. And this case would reinforce that pattern. Beyond the immediate bust, investigators saw the arrest as a trace to a much larger network in which couriers represent only the most visible layer of a complex structure. >> Sorry, I'm trying to get the phones out. I keep on the trunk. for me now in my heart. I would prefer that you listen up this >> cuz all they're going to do is pay somebody else to bring it down. >> That's that's literally here's here's the thing. The reason that you have the dope right now and not the person in Detroit and not the person is because they know there's a high probability getting stopped out here. The thing is we don't care on your wallet. >> They don't want to spend 12 years. That's why they're having they don't care if you get prison. I don't care what I can't tell you how many times I've heard I'll get you a lawyer. I'll bond you out. This bond's going to be like half a million. I I understand cuz here's the thing. you probably whoever you're doing in some way, shape, or form. Might be a boyfriend, might be a relative or something like that. You're expendable to them. You don't matter. So, don't don't go to prison for them thinking that they uh that they would help you out in any way because they're not want to. >> If that were the case, you wouldn't be where you're at right now. >> Yeah. They'd be doing something. >> Need to have Sylvia see if they can get a hold of Rosario or whatever. >> I'm assuming he's coming for I'm really, like I said, I don't personally care, but I'm trying to steer you in the right way for your own sake for your own safety. >> Okay, that's fine. >> We'll we'll figure that out after we figure this out. >> After the arrest, Porsche P. Taylor would be transported to the Sciota County Jail and formally charged. Prosecutors filed two first-degree felony counts. Possession of under Ohio Revised Code 2925.11 and trafficking under section 2925.03, each carrying a maximum of 11 years in prison, which could run consecutively for a total of 22 years along with fines of up to $40,000. The scale of the seizure also raised the possibility of federal prosecution since the quantity involved far exceeded federal sentencing thresholds and the case involved interstate travel. Taylor's defense sought to negotiate a plea, but prosecutors expressed both the strategic importance of the Sciota County corridor and the strict stance Ohio law takes against f. In a state where every gram can mean dozens of overdose deaths, the likelihood of avoiding prison would be minimal.