BALDWIN — Alert work by a Baldwin police officer who stopped a vehicle for speeding led to the arrest of a North Carolina man for trafficking methamphetamine on Friday.
Full details of the arrest were released at Monday night’s Baldwin City Council meeting.
“Our officers were out on [Ga.] 365 running speed detection and got a car at 83 in the 65 and made the traffic stop,” said Baldwin Police Chief Charles Webb. “Officers smelled the odor of marijuana, questioned the man about the marijuana and he handed the marijuana over. They asked for consent to search.”
The driver of the white 2011 Chrysler 200 was Javier Alvarado, 25, of Candler, N.C.
Alvarado gave officers consent to search the vehicle, Webb said.
Alto Police Department responded to stand by with the individual while Baldwin officers searched the vehicle.
“During the search of the vehicle, an officer found an Air Jordan box in the back, a shoebox,” Webb said. “He opened it up and it had a white bag in it. He pulled it out and there was one of those Glad containers full of methamphetamine — approximately two and a half pounds.”
That is a large quantity of the illegal drug, and Webb said the exact street value can be difficult to determine.
“It varies,” Webb said. “It could be anywhere from $30,000 to $200,000, so I’d somewhere in the middle — $75,000 to $100,000.”
In addition, officers took into evidence $1,400 in cash from Alvarado.
“We cannot seize the vehicle,” Webb said. “He was not the owner of the vehicle. We are going to attempt to seize the cash.”
Alvarado was arrested and charged with possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, trafficking of methamphetamine, speeding, and giving false information to an officer.
