Route 17 traffic stop in Mahwah yields various drugs

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: A Mahwah police officer who stopped a rented Dodge Charger that he said was speeding and tailgating on Route 17 reported finding a collection of drugs and items used to process and package them.

Jerry DeMarco

04/11/2013 4:18 p.m.

Officers Sean Hayes and Kevin Tielmans said 36-year-old Edward Grant’s account of what he was doing and where he was going “contained a number of contradictions,” according to Mahwah Police Chief James Batelli.

“During the conversations the officers detected an odor of marijuana emanating from the vehicle and Grant admitted to possessing marijuana,” the chief said.

The officers found him carrying a small bag of pot, then obtained his consent to search the car, Batelli said, adding that they found:

• Large plastic bag and three additional bags containing a powdery substance believed to be cocaine
• Electronic digital scale
• Unlabeled pill bottle containing pills determined to be Oxycodone
• Metal grinder with a substance believed to be marijuana
• Packages of plastic bags similar to those containing marijuana
• A small amount of U.S. currency, which Batelli said was seized pending a civil forfeiture proceeding.

Grant was charged with various drug possession counts, while receiving a pair of motor vehicle summonses.

He’s due in court on Tuesday.

MUGSHOT: Courtesy Mahwah PD

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