Traffic stop leads to drug bust

Published 11:23 pm Friday, February 10, 2012

APD officers arrested Thomas Wayne Miller Friday night at a local gas station.

For the second time in less than a week officers with the Atmore Police Department along with agents from the 21stJudicial Task Force executed a drug related arrest at the Kangaroo gas station on Highway 31 in west Atmore.

Miller

Friday night at approximately 10 p.m. APD officer Ryan James conducted a traffic stop at the station after a blue Ford Mustang headed east into town and failed to perform a proper turn signal when attempting to pull into the Kangaroo parking lot.

DTF agent Paige Howell said, when questioning the subject, Thomas Wayne Miller, 38, of Stockton, the man was unable to speak clearly, leading Howell to instruct him to open his mouth.

Sign up for our daily email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

“We found two bags of what we believe to be methamphetamine or cocaine in his mouth,” Howell said.

DTF agent Scott Walden said a test done at the scene identified the substance inside one of the bags as methamphetamine but added a comparative test would have to be done against cocaine in order to positively determine the chemical composition of the contents of the second bag.

Two passengers inside the vehicle, a white female and a black male, were released from the scene of Friday night’s arrest and Howell said the Mustang would be seized by law enforcement.

Howell said Miller would be charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Miller was transported to the Escambia County Detention Center in Brewton.

Thomas Wayne Miller awaits transport after being arrested Friday night.