MONTICELLO – A Somerset woman was arrested on drug trafficking charges in Wayne County.
According to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, on Thursday, at about 2:48 p.m., Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Horne stopped a vehicle on East Ky. 90 for a drug investigation. While interviewing all occupants of the vehicle, Deputy Derek Dennis deployed his K-9 Deputy Dunya for a free air sniff around the vehicle.
Deputy K-9 Dunya alerted on the front passenger side of the vehicle as being positive for illegal narcotics inside. All occupants were removed from the vehicle for a search of the vehicle and all passengers. After removing everyone, Deputy Jerry Coffey observed a pill bottle lying on the ground beside the front passenger side door. The pill bottle contained a crystal-like substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office. During questioning of the female front-seat passenger, she admitted she had brought the substance to Wayne County to sell, according to the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputy Joe Horne then charged and arrested Kimberlee R. Benien of Somerset, Ky., for first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (greater than or equal to 2 grams of methamphetamine). While processing paperwork at the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, the crystal substance weighed 22 grams.
Deputies Horne, Dennis, and Coffey were assisted at the scene by Wayne County Court Security Deputy Phyliss Burnette in a search of all female passengers.