An Atmore man was arrested Feb. 7 on drug charges after a traffic stop in Nokomis, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

Chief Deputy Mike Lambert said that Damien Jenkins, 39, of Atmore, was arrested for FTA (failure to appear), possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia and is out on a $5,000 bond.

Lambert said the arrest stemmed from a traffic stop made by Deputy Lowry on James Road in Nokomis.

“He noticed a black Cadillac with an expired tag,” Lambert said. “Deputy Lowry initiated a traffic stop. The vehicle was occupied by Damien Jenkins of Atmore, and a passenger. Deputy Lowry smelled what appeared to be an odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. Both subjects were removed from the vehicle, and consent to search was given.

“Deputy Lowry was unable to find what he believed to be illegal narcotics inside the vehicle,” he said. “Deputy Lowry did find a small black scale inside the car. When Deputy Lowry ran a warrant check on Damien Jenkins, it turned out that he had a FTA warrant in Escambia County, Alabama. Mr. Jenkins was taken into custody and before leaving, Mr. Jenkins gave a statement to Deputy Lowry that he did use the scales to weigh marijuana and that he had eaten the marijuana that he had in his possession.”

Lambert said Deputy Gross transported Jenkins, and after clearing the back of his patrol unit, noticed the subject moving around a lot in the back seat while transporting him to the detention center in Brewton.

“When Deputy Gross got to the detention center and removed the subject from the vehicle, he removed the back seat and looked and found a plastic cigarette wrapper that contained four white pills that were identified by poison control as Loratab,” Lambert said. “Mr. Jenkins was transported on into the Escambia County Detention Center, where he was arrested for the FTA and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, which was hydrocodone and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.”