Recently, a man from Missouri has found himself facing drug trafficking charges here in Illinois.
Specifically, he has been charged with cannabis trafficking and methamphetamine trafficking. He has also had two charges of drug possession with the intent to deliver brought against him. The four charges he is facing are all Class 1 felony charges.
The charges come in relation to an incident that occurred on Oct. 8.
That day, the Missouri man was pulled over as he was driving in Pekin, Illinois. Authorities claim that he failed to obey a red light.
Police searched the man’s vehicle during this traffic stop. Purportedly, the search was performed after a K-9 unit was brought by the vehicle and the dog alerted to drugs. Police allege that, during the vehicle search, two plastic buckets were found that contained bags of cannabis and meth. The buckets purportedly were found in a toolbox. Authorities allege that the cannabis and meth were intended for distribution.
As this case shows, drug trafficking charges sometimes come out of a traffic stop. There are many methods through which police can find drugs and other sorts of evidence during traffic stops. However, these methods generally have certain rules attached to them as to when police are allowed to use them.
Thus, in drug trafficking cases in which some of the evidence prosecutors are basing the charges on came from a traffic stop, some issues that it can be important to look into are what exactly police did during the stop and whether all police actions during the stop complied with all applicable rules regarding police search and seizures. Police misconduct regarding searches and seizures during a traffic stop could result in evidence found during the stop being able to be challenged as being inadmissible.
Source: Wayne County Journal-Banner, “Piedmont Man Arrested for Drug Trafficking in Illinois,” Nov. 6, 2014
