Two New Orleans men were arrested early Friday morning after a search of their vehicle on a traffic stop near Grambling State University yielded a large amount of marijuana.
Ron G. Waters and Ronald Payne, III, both 18, were arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and violation of the controlled substances drug free zone about 3:00 a.m. Friday morning.
A Grambling City Police officer stopped the vehicle after it reportedly ran a stop sign at the intersection of College Avenue and Main Street. When the officer approached the driver’s window, he immediately smelled a strong odor of marijuana. When asked if there were any illegal substances in the vehicle, the driver held up a single marijuana cigarette from the driver’s side door.
Other GPD and GSU officers arrived, and the vehicle was searched. Approximately 107 grams of suspected marijuana were recovered in a restaurant bag on the back floorboard. Another six grams of marijuana were found in the passenger rear compartment. The rear seat passengers, Payne and Waters, were in close proximity to the marijuana and were arrested.
Grambling State University, as an educational institution, is designated as a drug free zone.
Bail for Waters and Payne was set at $17,500 each.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
