Police make drug bust after pulling car over for brake light

Saturday, January 31, 2009
© Copyright 2013 Gwinnett Daily Post

NORCROSS - What started as a routine traffic stop near Norcross became a sizable drug bust, landing two men in jail recently on trafficking charges, police said Friday.

A patrol officer spotted the two men riding through the Norcross area Jan. 9 in a blue Cadillac - its rear center brake light out - and stopped them on U.S. Highway 29 near Jimmy Carter Boulevard, police said.

The officer reportedly smelled a strong odor of marijuana issuing from the car and, upon further investigation, found the driver had an outstanding warrant, a handgun in one pocket and $5,000 wadded in the other.

Inside the Cadillac, police uncovered 12 pounds of marijuana, worth nearly $50,000 on the street, said Gwinnett police spokeswoman Cpl. Illana Spellman.

Both occupants - the driver, Sean Chretien, 33, of Doraville, and Mark Hayward, 34, of Atlanta - were arrested.

Each suspect is charged with trafficking marijuana. Chretien faces an additional count of possession of a weapon during commission of a crime, as well as a brake light violation, Spellman said.

Both men remain in the Gwinnett County Jail without bond.

Gwinnett Daily Post