YOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Palisades Interstate Parkway police today said they found nearly a pound of pot, some of it hidden in baby food jars and a food takeout container, during a seat-belt check roadblock.
Officers Frankie Garrett, Lee Frazzano, and Jeffrey Kimbro were working the line on the northbound PIP ramp from Fletcher Avenue yesterday when they spotted a 2001 Jeep Cherokee with what they said was an obstructed rear license plate.
Garrett asked the driver for his credentials and “was able to detect a strong odor of marijuana,” said Lt. Michael Coppola, the department’s commanding officer.
The driver and his passenger were asked out of the car.
That’s when Frazzano found the passenger — identified as 28-year-old Vernon Moreland of New Windsor, N.Y. (top, right) — carrying a small amount of pot and a digital scale, Coppola said.
Given permission to search the Cherokee by the driver — Christopher Bravo, 23, of the Bronx — the officers found a bag of marijuana in a food take-out container on the rear floor, a smaller amount in baby food jars inside the driver’s door and another larger bag in Moreland’s backpack, he said.
Both men were being held in the Bergen County jail on charges of drug possession with the intent to distribute it and possession of drug paraphernalia (3 marijuana blunts and the scale).
Bravo ($11,000 bail) and Moreland ($10,500) are due in court April 6.