Traffic Stop Leads to Drug Trafficking Arrest
A Key West man was arrested for cocaine trafficking and possession of a large amount of marijuana after a traffic stop Tuesday afternoon.
Detectives with the Sheriff’s Office Monroe-HIDTA task force stopped a van driven by 61 year old Paul Fraga at 2 p.m. on Atlantic Boulevard in Key West. The van had illegal window tinting on it, precipitating the stop.
A strong odor of marijuana was noticeable inside the vehicle as the detectives spoke with Fraga at the driver’s side window. “We informed Fraga of the strong odor of fresh marijuana and he spontaneously uttered that he just smoked a joint in the vehicle,” Bragg wrote.
Police said they found a round, red cookie tin that contained marijuana and a partially smoked joint on the floorboard of the vehicle. In the center console was a vacuum-sealed bag containing 32 grams of cocaine, according to the arrest report.
Fraga told the deputy the drugs in his van were for his personal use and then added he had a quarter-pound of marijuana inside his home on Seidenberg Ave., according to the arrest report. He gave consent for the detectives to search his house, where they recovered a further 250 grams of the green leafy substance, along with several items of drug paraphernalia.
Fraga was arrested on Tuesday, and charged with possession of a felony amount of marijuana, trafficking in cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia [two roach clips, a digital scale and a glass pipe containing marijuana residue].
Fraga bonded out of jail Wednesday after posting $10,000.
Will not be surprised if he runs. At 61 could be spending a lot of his final days in prison.
Pretty stupid to be driving anything with violations while dealing in drugs.
Fraga has plenty of political connections. He’ll probably get probation.