The arrests took place on Wednesday, July 21, when troopers stopped a 2006 Volkswagen Passat on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Rockland County in the town of Stony Point for a vehicle and traffic law violation.
An investigation after the stop revealed the occupants of the vehicle were in possession of an illegally defaced loaded Taurus Model P2-22 handgun, said Trooper Steven Nevel.
Orange County residents, Edison Estevez, age 20, of Middletown, and Shailene Ventura Vasquez, age 22, of the Bronx, were arrested for criminal possession of a loaded firearm and criminal possession of a defaced weapon.
Ventura was additionally charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Both were remanded to Rockland County Jail.
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