A 32-year-old Cudjoe Key woman with MDMA, a drug commonly referred to as “Ecstasy” or “Molly,” was arrested recently at the Sugarloaf Lodge as part of an hit-and-run investigation that began earlier in the day.
Irene Rodriguez was charged with possession of MDMA, possession of drug paraphernalia and providing law enforcement with a false name.
Lower Keys Road Patrol Deputy Seth Hopp and Sgt. David Lariz went to the hotel on Jan. 31 at 9:26 a.m. as part of an ongoing hit-and-run investigation with no serious injuries and found Rodriguez, who matched the description of a woman from that case, in one of the rooms. Rodriguez told the deputies that two other suspects in the hit-and-run were not present and that she didn’t have an ID. She initially told them her name was Sara Buccheri, but could not recall her date of birth. When confronted with the consequences of giving law enforcement a false name, she then identified herself as Irene Rodriguez.
Deputies soon found that Rodriguez had two felony warrants out of Miami-Dade County for violation of probation on grand theft and fraud charges.
Sgt. Lariz found two hand-rolled cigarettes, a $10 bill containing white powder, a partial cigar package containing white residue and a plastic baggie with a white translucent rock-like substance weighing 2.5 grams that later field-tested positive for MDMA. Rodriguez told Deputy Hopp the cigarettes contained a mixture of MDMA and tobacco and the white substance on the cigar package and $10 bill was also MDMA.
Rodriguez was taken to the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island.
The hit-and-run investigation remains ongoing.