Alleged Gang Member Arrested in Moundsville

By ANNIE DIMMICK
MOUNDSVILLE — A suspected member of a national street gang connected to narcotics trafficking was arrested without incident in Moundsville Saturday and is now facing federal charges.

According to Marshall County Sheriff John Gruzinskas, Raphael Lima, 28, of the Chicago Latin Kings gang was taken into custody by deputies and members of the Ohio Valley Drug Task Force after they received a tip that a large amount of narcotics was headed into the county.

Gruzinskas said officers made their move after tracking Lima’s rental car to the south end of the Moundsville Plaza at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Responding officers found Lima in the car with his wife and two young children. They also found 10 ounces of powder cocaine worth about $10,000 in Lima’s possession.

According to Fawn Thomas of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Wheeling, Lima was arraigned before a federal magistrate Monday afternoon on one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. She said he will remain in the Northern Regional Jail without bond until an initial hearing at 10 a.m. Wednesday in federal court in Wheeling, where bond will be set.