Last modified: Thursday, August 23, 2007 9:06 AM EDT Drug suspects nabbed on I-95 BY DAVID LINTON SUN CHRONICLE STAFF ATTLEBORO - State police seized a kilogram of suspected cocaine worth an estimated $25,000 and arrested the two occupants of a car initially stopped for a traffic violation on Interstate 95, authorities said Wednesday. One of the suspects, Brenda Chovet, 31, the driver of the car, was ordered held in jail on $50,000 cash bail after pleading innocent in Attleboro District Court to trafficking cocaine and related charges. Chovet, of Providence, was stopped allegedly for speeding around 4 p.m. Tuesday on I-95 North in Mansfield just north of Interstate 495, according to state police. The passenger, a man identified as Carlos Hernandez, 33, of Providence, also was charged with trafficking cocaine and related offenses, but was transferred to federal custody. Assistant District Attorney Brian Ritucci said Hernandez was to be arraigned in federal court on drug charges. No other information was available about his case. Judge Robert E. Baylor asked that an arrest warrant also be issued for Hernandez on the state police charges. Chovet allegedly said she had no identification, and gave police a different name after she was stopped, Assistant District Attorney Brian Ritucci. After further investigation, state police had a police dog search the car and "the K-9 unit reported a hit" near the front seat passenger dashboard, Ritucci said. Police found a piece of bubble-wrapped plastic, which contained a white substance alleged to be cocaine, Ritucci said. Ritucci asked the judge to impose $250,000 cash bail, noting a conviction for trafficking a kilo of cocaine carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in state prison. He also argued that the high bail was necessary because Chovet was a flight risk and would not return to court if released. Her lawyer, Anthony Mastromarino of Taunton, said Chovet would return to court, and asked that she be released on $3,000 cash bail with conditions that she report regularly to probation. He described Chovet as a resident alien from the Dominican Republic who has been employed for six years as a part-time hair dresser in Providence, where she lives with her mother and son. Mastromarino said Chovet had been dating Hernandez for about six months, and was driving him to Boston in a car he told her he borrowed from a friend. He noted the alleged cocaine was found under the passenger-side floor mat and questioned whether the prosecution could prove she knew about the alleged narcotics. Chovet is due back in court Sept. 19 for a probable cause hearing. DAVID LINTON can be reached at 508-236-0338 or at dlinton@thesunchronicle.com.