By Pat Culverhouse
Prior to his election as Minden’s Chief of Police, Jared McIver worked narcotics interdiction in Webster Parish and the surrounding areas. His training included paying attention to small details that might identify someone with something to hide.
Last week, that experience helped put a Mobile, Alabama man behind bars on drug charges.
Ryan Terrell Lamar Jackson, 32, is being held for possession of Sch. I narcotics (marijuana), possession of drug paraphernalia and expired license plate after Chief McIver initiated a traffic stop in Interstate 20 around 3:45 p.m. Thursday.
“I was coming back on I-20 from business in Bossier City and when this vehicle passed me, I noticed it had paper temporary tags that were expired,” McIver said. “When I stopped him, he immediately began exhibiting signs typical of someone with something to hide.”
McIver said the suspect showed obvious signs that he was very nervous. “He couldn’t be still…he was pacing, he was very chatty…constantly talking about things like why the tags were expired. It was very obvious something more than an expired tag was going on.”
When McIver received permission to enter the vehicle and retrieve paperwork, something else became obvious.
“When I opened the door the odor of marijuana was very strong,” he said. “There was marijuana residue all over the seats, all over the car…obvious evidence of the drugs.”
A further search of the vehicle revealed a bag containing roughly 29 ounces of marijuana hidden in the compartment beneath the spare tire along with numerous pieces of paraphernalia including a cigarette roller and marijuana grinders.
“It just happened that as we were just driving along, the tags caught my attention,” McIver said.
“He was very chatty all the time we had him stopped, but he became very quiet when we got inside his car.”
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
