Two people from New Orleans were arrested by the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department during a routine traffic stop where the deputy found guns and drugs.
Sheriff David Allison said the stop was conducted at the 37 mile marker of Interstate 59 on July 6, just before 5 a.m.
The deputy conducted the stop after seeing the vehicle continuously traveling in the left lane and neither of the occupants were determined to be wearing seatbelts, Allison said.
During the stop, the deputy spoke with the driver, 26-year-old Charles Burns of 12151 I-10 Service Road, Apt. 408, New Orleans, La. and the passenger 23-year-old Ceiara Chanika Rochon, of 4804 Vienna St., New Orleans, La.
While speaking with the occupants of the vehicle, the deputy detected the odor of marijuana coming from within, prompting a K-9 deputy to be called to the scene. The K-9 conducted an external search, and alerted that contraband may be within, leading to a search of the driver and passenger and the interior of the vehicle. Allison said that in that search, a Smith and Wesson pistol was found in a backpack within the trunk, which was later determined to have been stolen out of Jefferson Parish, La.
In a separate backpack in the trunk, a Glock pistol that had the serial number removed was found along with a clear plastic bag with several smaller bags all containing a rock like substance that field testing identified as cocaine, Allison said.
The drugs, guns and about $5,000 in cash was seized and Burns was arrested for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute while in possession of a firearm and Rochon was arrested for possession of a stolen firearm, Allison said.