3 faces drug charges after police search car in Atlantic City

A traffic stop in Atlantic City recently led to the arrest of three men in their early 20s. All three are accused of heroin possession, possession with intent to distribute and possession with intent within 500 feet of a park and 1,000 feet of the Uptown Complex.

According to police, it was around 2 p.m. on Monday when an officer saw a four-door white Nissan run a red light. This was enough of a reason for the officer to pull the vehicle over.

Police claim a 25-year-old passenger sitting in the back seat of the car attempted to get out of the car and put something down the front of his pants. This 25-year-old ended up getting detained by police. Police claim it was the 25-year-old, of Atlantic City, who ended up turning over 46 bags of marijuana.

According to police, the 22-year-old driver of the rented Nissan also had suspected marijuana in his hand.

At some point, police decided to search the car. This was when 439 bags of suspected heroin were found. This much heroin is worth more than $4,000 on the streets.

Throughout all of this, while drugs were supposedly found on the rear seat passenger and the driver, a recent news articles in the Press of Atlantic City did not say if the 21-year-old front seat passenger had suspected drugs on him. Rather, the article just says he had rented the car. However, he too was charged with the same heroin possession charges as the other two men.

What is intent to distribute charge?

Quite often we hear stories in the news about New Jersey men and women who are facing possession with intent to distribute charges. Yet, many do not even know what this charge means.

In general, those facing these types of charges have a high possibility of ending up serving time in jail. However, just because someone is charged with an intent to distribute offense it does not mean this person is without legal options. Rather, it may be possible to cast doubt on whom the drugs belonged to or if the intention was really to distribute them.

A criminal defense attorney with experience handling drug charges in New Jersey will be able to look at the facts of a case and then determine what the best course of action is to take.

Source: Press of Atlantic City, “Traffic stop leads to drug charges against three in Atlantic City,” Steven Lemongello, July 1, 2013