A routine traffic stop by a Picayune Police officer found the driver to be in possession of a large amount of crack cocaine.

Administrative Assistant to the Chief of Police Jeremy Magri said the stop occurred on Monday just before 1:30 p.m. as an officer witnessed a vehicle run a red light at the intersection of Memorial Boulevard and Telly Road.

The officer stopped the vehicle and found 38-year-old Christopher Deon Nixon of 423 S. Blanks Ave., behind the wheel. When the officer asked for Nixon’s driver’s license, he said he didn’t have one, Magri said.

A check with the National Crime Information Center determined Nixon was without a driver’s license because it was suspended for a failure to appear warrant for a previous unknown offense, Magri said. At that point, the officer took Nixon into custody on the charges of driving without a license and running a red light.

The officer conducted an inventory of Nixon’s vehicle after he was taken into custody, and found two plastic baggies containing a large amount of an off-white rock like substance believed to be crack cocaine under the driver’s seat, Magri said.

Nixon now faces the additional charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute within 1,500 feet of a church, Magri said.