Traffic stop leads to methamphetamine bust

CHARLESTON, Mo. - A traffic stop led to the discovery of three pounds of crystal meth.

Around 3 a.m. Monday, a member of the Missouri State Highway Patrol stopped a northbound vehicle on Interstate 57 in Mississippi County for a traffic violation.

During the course of the traffic stop, permission to search was requested and granted by the driver Carmelo Derial, 37, of Kansas City, Kan. A patrol K-9 unit responded to the scene and gave a positive indication for drugs in the vehicle. During the subsequent search, the crystal methamphetamine was located.

Derial and Jennifer A. Johnson, 26, also of Kansas City, Kan., were arrested for possession of a controlled substance and drug trafficking. They were taken to the Mississippi County Jail.