Washington Police Patrolman Keith Smith (right) gives a report to Chief Mike Davis after finding two bags of suspected marijuana (visible on the car's dash) during a traffic stop last Wednesday night. Three Augusta teens were arrested last Wednesday night after Washington police stopped their car for having a homemade tag and then found over four ounces of marijuana hidden inside.

Patrolman Keith Smith noticed a black Volkswagen GTI with dark tinted windows and a homemade temporary license plate on the North Bypass near TPS, and conducted a traffic stop, coming to rest at Ann Denard Drive. Talking with the driver, Smith learned that the car was newly purchased and had no insurance coverage.

WPD shift supervisor Lt. Harry Noble came to the scene, and while talking to the passenger noticed the strong tell-tale odor of marijuana coming from the car. The driver, Justin Corey Ray, 19, at first resisted a search of the vehicle, Noble said, but then consented, and officers found two bags of suspected marijuana totaling 4.6 ounces in the car's glove box, along with about $150 in small bills.

The officers arrested Ray, along with Philip Joshua Williams, 19, of Augusta, and Roderick T. Walter, 19. All three were charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

Lt. Joe Nelson said the amount of marijuana seized and the small bills indicated that the three were street dealers picking up a load from Athens to break down and sell in $5 and $10 bags in Augusta. The driver also lost possession of the car that he had just purchased. "There were enough drugs in there for us to say the car was being used for trafficking, so it was seized by the Washington Police Department," Nelson said.