Florida

He got pulled over for speeding 25 mph over the limit. Then cops looked inside the car.

A minor traffic stop resulted in a major drug bust Wednesday in Marion County, in central Florida.

According to a report from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, two deputies on patrol pulled over Eugene Clark Johnson Jr., 47, for going close to 85 mph in a 65 mph zone.

The deputies were on U.S. 301 when they caught up with Johnson, who was traveling southbound.

Two K-9 dogs conducted a “free air sniff” of the vehicle, and one went straight for the driver’s side door.

When Johnson was asked to step out, he started “acting extremely nervous and was reaching around in his pockets and inside the vehicle,” read the sheriff’s office report.

The driver eventually complied. “During the search, deputies found approximately 80 grams of cocaine in Johnson’s car and almost $11,000 on his person,” said the report, adding he also had 14 Viagra pills for which he could not provide a prescription.

The amount of cocaine seized had an approximate street value of $8,000, triple the amount considered “trafficking” under Florida law.

According to ClickOrlando, Johnson is no stranger to law enforcement. He was sentenced to nearly a decade in prison on multiple cocaine sale and possession charges, as well as trafficking hydrocodone.

According to MCSO, the Ocala resident is charged with one count of trafficking cocaine, more than 28 grams but less than 150 kilograms, and possession of a harmful new legend drug without a prescription. He is being held in the Marion County Jail on $51,000 bond.

This story was originally published August 10, 2018 at 11:16 AM.

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