Officers on patrol found a man to be in possession of a large amount of methamphetamine.
Picayune Police Department Assistant Chief Jeremy Magri said the inciaent began as a routine traffic stop for a cracked windshield, which was damaged to the point of obstruction, on Wednesday.
The stop was conducted on Frontage Road just before 1 p.m. that day. Magri said that the driver, later identified as 47-year-old Dennis Smith of 800 Laird St., pulled off into the parking lot of a restaurant along the road very slowly. As the officer pulled up behind him, the officer noticed that Smith appeared to be shuffling around in the vehicle in a nervous manner as though he was hiding something on his person.
Smith continued to drive through the parking lot slowly as he was shuffling about in the cab of the vehicle, Magri said.
When the vehicle finally came to a stop at the other end of the parking lot, a pat down of Smith’s person was conducted, where the officer found about 2 ounces of a substance believed to be methamphetamine stuffed in his pants, Magri said. It is estimated that the street value of the drug is $6,000, leading him to be charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, Magri said.
Smith was also cited for improper equipment for the cracked windshield.
Smith is still being held in Picayune’s Criminal Justice Center while he awaits a bond hearing, Magri said.