Arizona woman arrested in Missouri after 26 pounds of drugs found in car with child

COOPER COUNTY, Mo. -- A woman from Arizona was arrested in Cooper County, Missouri, on Saturday, May 3, after Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers found 26 pounds of cocaine and heroin in her car, along with an eight-month-old child.

Joanna Fabian Rivera, 33, from Maricopa, Arizona, is charged with two counts of first-degree trafficking of drugs and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Rivera has pleaded not guilty, according to court records.

The probable cause statement says an MSHP trooper stopped a Chrysler Pacifica at a gas station in Boonville for driving too close behind a tractor-trailer on eastbound Interstate 70 Saturday afternoon.

The driver -- identified as Rivera -- said she rented the Chrysler in Arizona and was going to Ohio.

The trooper stated they observed Rivera seemingly in distress, breathing and speaking rapidly and deviating from the trooper's questions. An eight-month-old child was also seen in the rear seat, with Rivera saying the child was hers.

The trooper asked to search the car, but Rivera denied the request. A K9 officer was brought to the scene and detected illegal drugs inside the vehicle.

Authorities found a suitcase in the car containing three packages of heroin weighing nine pounds and six packages of cocaine weighing 17 pounds, according to online court documents.

Rivera was taken to the Cooper County Detention Center with a $200,000 cash-only bond. The child in the car was released to the Division of Family Services.