A motorist stopped by a state trooper last week on the Turner Turnpike for driving with an obstructed license plate faces a felony drug count.
Xian Jun Xu, 53, no address listed, was charged in Lincoln County District Court Oct. 31 with trafficking in illegal drugs.
The charge accuses him on Oct. 30 this year of possessing 94 pounds of marijuana, a controlled dangerous substance.
His bond has been set at $75,000. State Trooper Matthew Ludwig states in a probable cause affidavit that Xu was driving a Toyota Sienna with a black bracket on his license plate and was driving on the right shoulder crossing the white fog line.
Ludwig said he conducted a traffic stop at mile marker 174 in Lincoln County and made a passenger side approach to the vehicle, observing black trash bags in the rear trunk of the van. The trooper stated he observed a strong odor of raw marijuana coming from the vehicle.
He noted the second row seating area was removed from the vehicle and a blue blanket was on the rear seats. He asked Xu to exit the vehicle and have a seat in his patrol unit.
The driver told the trooper he was coming from Tulsa driving to Oklahoma City. When he asked Xu if he had any marijuana in the vehicle, Xu advised him no.
Ludwig made a probable cause search and located three large trash bags with vacuum sealed bags of marijuana in the rear trunk of the vehicle.
He placed Xu under arrest for drug trafficking marijuana over 25 pounds and transported him to the Lincoln County Jail in Chandler where he was booked and processed, he said.
The trooper further noted the marijuana was weighed in the original packaging and it weighed approximately 94 pounds.
Ludwig reported that Lt. Perkins secured the evidence and followed the wrecker back to Troop YB headquarters.