A Leesburg man found himself behind bars early Sunday morning on drug charges after the vehicle he was riding in was stopped for speeding on W. Dixie Avenue.
A Leesburg Police K-9 dog was summoned to the traffic stop at 900 S. 14th St. and alerted on the vehicle, indicating the likely presence of narcotics. The three occupants were then removed from the vehicle and a box of clear sandwich-style baggies was found on the floorboard in front of where 22-year-old Travis Lamont J. Hanberry had been sitting in the back seat. An officer lifted the back seat, which was loose, and located a large bag of a white crystal-like substance that tested positive for methamphetamine and other substances that tested positive for cocaine. A black digital scale also was located under the seat where Hanberry had been sitting, a police report states.
After finding the narcotics and the drug paraphernalia, the three occupants were separated and read their rights. Each claimed they didn’t know what the items were and denied owning them. Because Hanberry was sitting on top of the items, he was then placed under arrest and transported to the Leesburg Police Department for processing, the report says.
At the police department, the narcotics were weighed and packaged as evidence. The methamphetamine weighed about 66.5 grams, while the cocaine had a total weight of 3.8 grams, the report says.
Hanberry, who lives at 1416 Griffin Rd. in Leesburg, was then taken to the Lake County Jail on charges of trafficking methamphetamine, two counts of possession of cocaine and possession and/or use of drug equipment. He was being held on $55,000 bond and is due in court Jan. 25 at 8:30 a.m., jail records show.
