Woman arrested in connection with alleged East Liverpool cocaine

An East Liverpool woman is being held by Federal Marshals following a six-month-long investigation into cocaine trafficking in that city.

Katie Riley, 25, was taken into custody on Monday after investigators charged her with conspiracy to to distribute cocaine.

Members of the Columbiana County Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Agency began investigating this past December.

According to a federal affidavit, undercover agents used confidential sources to make phone calls setting up purchases of cocaine in East Liverpool earlier this year.

Between February 3 and June 30, investigators say the informants made nine drug buys, spending nearly $10,000 to purchase a total of 221 grams of cocaine.

Although the confidential sources set up the drug buys through phone calls to two men, the actual deliveries were made by Riley and other women, according the affidavit.

Riley is identified in the affidavit as the girlfriend of one of the two men who allegedly set up the transactions.

On June 16, the Ohio Highway Patrol stopped Riley's car on Route 70 near Wellsville.

A drug sniffing dog helped troopers find 250 grams of cocaine powder in the car.

Investigators believe the cocaine was being imported from Columbus, Ohio.

Riley was brought into U.S. District Court in Youngstown on Monday where a magistrate ordered that she be held in custody until a detention hearing on Thursday.

Online federal court records do not indicate that anyone other than Riley have been charged in connection with the case at this point, or whether more suspects could be charged in the future.

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