CALCASIEU PARISH, LOUISIANA — A Southeast Texas woman is charged with trafficking cocaine and cruelty to a juvenile after a law enforcement anti-drug team using a K-9 found cocaine hidden inside the trunk of her car and a young child unsecured in the vehicle.
The investigation began at about 6 p.m. March 31 when detectives with the Combined Anti-Drug Task Force (C.A.T. Team) Criminal Interdiction Unit in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana conducted a traffic stop on a driver for a traffic violation on Interstate 10 near mile marker 42.
During the stop, detectives made contact with the driver, Kim D. Hill, 52, of Houston. When detectives approached the car, they observed a 5 year old seated in the front passenger seat. Further investigation revealed there was no proper child restraint system inside the car. While speaking with Hill, detectives say they observed signs of in-transit criminal activity. Detectives requested consent to search the car and Hill refused. They brought out K-9 Buck, a trained and certified drug detection dog, to conduct a free-air sniff around the car. Buck provided a positive response to the odor of narcotics from the car. A probable cause search was conducted and detectives found 12 packages concealed inside the trunk. The contents, a total of 29.8 pounds, tested positive for cocaine…