2 in I-75 stop face immigration, drug charges

12/11/2004

MONROE - What began as a traffic stop for an expired license plate ended with the discovery of 14 pounds of suspected marijuana and possible criminal and immigration charges against two foreign nationals, authorities said.

Michigan State Police troopers from the Monroe post stopped the vehicle Thursday night on southbound I-75 near Summit Street in Erie Township. The troopers searched the vehicle and found 14 one-pound bags of the suspected drug.

The driver of the car, a 26-year-old man from Detroit, and his passenger, a 25-year-old man from Chicago, told the troopers the vehicle belonged to a friend from Detroit and that they were on their way to Toledo to visit a friend, troopers said.

The driver of the vehicle, who had a Michigan driver's license, was found to be an illegal alien. Both he and his passenger are from Mexico, but the citizenship of the passenger has not yet been determined, troopers said.

The two men were being held in the Monroe County jail.