CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. (WWSB) – A traffic stop Saturday led to the arrest of a man after Charlotte County deputies said they found more than 200 grams of suspected methamphetamine and a firearm in his vehicle.
A deputy assigned to the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Strategic Targeted Area Response Unit stopped a vehicle shortly after 2:30 p.m. Saturday, July 18, after observing a traffic infraction, according to the sheriff’s office. The driver, identified as Mark A. Johnson, 45, was the only person in the vehicle.
Deputies said Johnson denied having drugs or weapons in the vehicle. A K-9 then alerted to the vehicle during an exterior sniff, the sheriff’s office said.
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A search of the vehicle turned up a brown backpack containing two clear bags with a substance believed to be methamphetamine, along with a 9 mm firearm, ammunition and an additional magazine, according to authorities.
The sheriff’s office said the substance tested positive for methamphetamine. One bag weighed 111.5 grams and the other weighed 111 grams, for a total of 222.5 grams.
Johnson was arrested on charges of using a firearm while committing a felony; trafficking amphetamine over 200 grams; possession of a controlled substance without a prescription; possession of drug paraphernalia; and possession of a firearm, ammunition or weapon by a convicted felon.
The sheriff’s office said Johnson has multiple felony convictions.
“After more than 30 years in law enforcement, it still baffles me that people think they can get away with this in Charlotte County,” Sheriff Bill Prummell said. “We have made it clear that it will not be tolerated.”
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