PUTNAM VALLEY — A routine traffic stop on the Taconic State Parkway led to the discovery of multiple drugs and a loaded handgun hidden in a secret compartment, state police said Friday.
Members of Troop K’s Community Stabilization Unit stopped a 2007 Toyota traveling northbound in Putnam Valley at 11:30 a.m. Thursday for vehicle and traffic violations.
During the stop, troopers interviewed the driver and sole occupant, Modesto E. Martinez, 33, of East Elmhurst.
A K9 unit conducted an exterior sniff of the vehicle, which yielded a positive alert for illegal narcotics, according to police.
Troopers then performed a probable cause search and discovered an electronically operated hidden compartment within the front passenger seat’s seatback.
Inside the compartment, officers found a loaded Ruger handgun and approximately 193 grams of cocaine, 36 grams of heroin, 63 grams of Percocet, 14 grams of oxycodone, 51 grams of Xanax and 3 grams of fentanyl.
Martinez was taken into custody and faces multiple charges including criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree, an A felony, and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, a C felony.
Additional charges include criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third and fifth degrees, criminal possession of a firearm, and multiple misdemeanor counts related to drug paraphernalia.
Martinez was arraigned in the Town of Kent Court and remanded to Putnam County Jail.
The investigation remains ongoing.
