CLINTON — Two men were arrested on drug charges after state police discovered 115 grams of cocaine during a traffic stop on the Taconic State Parkway Tuesday.
Members of the Troop K Community Stabilization Unit stopped a 1995 BMW 318TI traveling northbound in the town of Clinton at 11:30 a.m. for multiple vehicle and traffic violations.
During the stop, officers interviewed the driver, Joseph W. Richards, 35, of Lake Luzerne, and passenger Christopher L. Bracero Mendez, 27, of Saratoga Springs.
A K-9 unit from the Dutchess County Drug Task Force conducted an exterior sniff of the vehicle, which alerted to the presence of illegal narcotics.
Officers searched the vehicle and found a used crack pipe and a small baggie containing cocaine.
Police discovered a larger quantity of cocaine hidden in Bracero Mendez’s right shoe.
Both men were transported to SP Poughkeepsie for processing.
Richards was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the 7th degree, driving while ability impaired by drugs with two prior convictions within 10 years, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the 2nd degree, and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the 5th degree.
Bracero Mendez faces charges including criminal possession of a controlled substance in the 7th, 5th, 3rd, and 2nd degrees, as well as criminal use of drug paraphernalia in the 2nd degree.
Both men were remanded to Dutchess County Jail.
