[Bill]

http://www.pantagraph.com/business/l...64d70835e.html

BLOOMINGTON — A Missouri woman faces armed violence charges after a handgun was found inside her vaginal cavity by a McLean County correctional officer performing a strip search related to the woman's arrest on drug charges.

Amika Witt, 20, of Ozark, was stopped at 5 a.m. Thursday by Chenoa police after allegedly driving 90 mph on Interstate 55.

During a search of the vehicle and the suspect, police found drugs, including heroin in the suspect's bra, and ecstasy, according to a statement read in court Friday by McLean County Assistant State's Attorney Layne Roberts.

Witt is charged with armed violence by possessing a weapon during the alleged commission of a felony and while in possession of drugs, and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

A passenger in the car, Clinton McDonald, 29, of Springfield, Mo., was charged with unlawful possession of heroin with intent to deliver the drug, and unlawful possession of ecstasy.

After Witt was taken to the McLean County jail, a female correctional officer found the Kimber .380-caliber handgun inside the suspect's body, said Roberts. The gun had a fully loaded magazine and "a bullet in the chamber ready to fire," said the prosecutor.

McLean County Sheriff Jon Sandage said a complete body search is performed on all suspects brought into the facility on drug charges. It is not uncommon for people accused of dealing drugs to be armed, he added.

"When you find drugs, you look for guns," said Sandage.

The weapons incident, while unusual, is not the first time a gun has been brought into the jail, said the sheriff.

According to Roberts' statement, the woman told police she and McDonald were en route to St. Louis with the drugs.

Witt was jailed in lieu of posting $40,035, and McDonald was jailed in lieu of posting $20,035.