Commercial driver on I-70 arrested for illegal drugs and fraudulent cards

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

LITTLE POINT -- A California man is facing six charges after being stopped Tuesday morning on Interstate 70 near the Putnam-Hendricks county line.

Contraband confiscated after an Interstate 70 traffic stop Tuesday morning includes 14 fraudulent credit cards, along with heroin and marijuana.

At 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Indiana State Police Trooper Yan Dravigne stopped a Volvo tractor-trailer combination for an unsafe lane movement on eastbound Interstate 70 near the 50-mile marker, nine miles east of Cloverdale.

Trooper Dravigne reported noticing indicators of possible criminal activity during his conversation with the driver, Martiros Nalbandyan, 35, of North Hollywood, Calif.

A subsequent search of the vehicle yielded approximately 4.25 grams of suspected black tar heroin, two grams of suspected marijuana and 14 fraudulent credit cards containing stolen credit card numbers.

All of the contraband was reportedly found concealed in various areas of the truck cab.

Nalbandyan was arrested and lodged in the Putnam County Jail.

He faces felony charges of possession of a controlled substance (heroin), forgery of documents and fraud/credit card abuse, along with misdemeanor counts of possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and maintaining a common nuisance.

Assisting in the investigation were ISP Trooper Brad Fyfe and the U.S. Secret Service.

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