NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

JOHN F. WOOD

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

OCTOBER 2, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TWO KC MEN CHARGED WITH COCAINE

            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that two Kansas City, Mo., men were charged in federal court today with being in possession with the intent to distribute cocaine. Law enforcement officers seized three kilograms of cocaine from a vehicle and a residence connected to one of the defendants.

             Jose L. Ramirez, 30, of Kansas City, and Oscar Ruiz-Ayala, 28, a citizen of El Salvador living in Kansas City, were charged with being in possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City.

             According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, Ramirez and Ruiz-Ayala were arrested on Monday, Oct. 1, 2007, following a traffic stop. Police officers stopped the Chrysler Pacifica that was being driven by Ramirez, which was occupied by Ruiz-Ayala and Ramirez’s two children. A package containing two kilograms of cocaine was discovered in a manila envelope under the front passenger seat of the vehicle.

             Following the arrest, police officers executed a search warrant at a residence recently visited by Ramirez, where they found a kilogram of cocaine.

            Wood cautioned that the charges contained in the complaint are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

            This case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Venneman. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.