BENTON — What began as a routine traffic stop on Interstate 95 ended with police seizing what they describe as thousands of dollars worth of heroin and crack cocaine from a Massachusetts couple Friday afternoon.

Jennifer Rubins, 28, of Mashpee, Mass., and Donnell Pina, 40, of Marstons Mills, Mass., were each charged with aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs and illegal importation of drugs after police found 53 grams of heroin, 10 grams of crack cocaine, about $1,400 in cash and a small amount of marijuana in their car, Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said in a news release Monday.

“Troopers are now trying to determine where the couple was headed,” McCausland said.

Trooper Jesse Duda stopped a rental car driven by Rubins for a traffic violation near mile marker 134. A dog from the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department later indicated that drugs were present, according to McCausland.

He estimated the street value of the drugs at more than $11,000. Rubins and Pina were taken to Kennebec County jail.

Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be contacted at 861-9287 or at mhhetling@centralmaine.comTwitter: @hh_matt


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