Police seized large amounts of crack cocaine, cocaine, methamphetamine and synthetic fentanyl during an April 24th traffic stop near West Elementary. (New Philadelphia Police Department)

NEW PHILADELPHIA (TUSCO TV) - The city police department is sharing the outcome of a recent traffic stop that kept large quantities of four different types of drugs from hitting the streets.

The New Philadelphia Police on Tuesday posted photos on Facebook of their haul from the April 24th traffic stop including large amounts of crack cocaine, cocaine, methamphetamine, and synthetic fentanyl. Officer James Miller Jr. says the drugs were located inside a vehicle he pulled over on 10th Street NW, near West Elementary. 

"We called the K9 to the scene. The K9 actually alerted to the vehicle for the presence of narcotics and, upon search of the vehicle, we located several large amounts of suspected narcotics which were seized for evidence, sent away to the lab for testing, and we received the results thereafter," he says.

Miller says the vehicle was carrying a 44-year-old male driver and a 34-year-old female passenger, both locals known to him from previous encounters. Miller says they arrested the female on an outstanding warrant for a parole violation, while the male was taken into custody and released pending formal charges.  

"The male was arrested, also released at a later time due to waiting for the drugs to be tested and get the results back on those, so charges will be filed through the county prosecutor’s office," he says. "They’ll run it probably through the grand jury and then if they deem that there is enough there for charges, they’ll file an indictment for his arrest." 

Miller says they’ll be seeking multiple felony charges against the male for drug possession and trafficking in a school zone. 

"The cocaine will be a felony one, the methamphetamine will be a felony one and the synthetic fentanyl is actually considered a controlled substance analog in Ohio because it’s synthetic, so it’ll actually be a felony two trafficking, so you’ll have two felony ones and a felony two charge," he says.

Miller says fentanyl, in particular, is quite dangerous and has become a real problem in the area, so he’s glad they were able to prevent this batch from getting out into the community. 

"I know that they warn us that any minor amount inhaled or getting through your skin can cause an overdose, especially for somebody who isn’t accustomed to having something like that in their body," he says.

Other officers assisting with the traffic stop included Jeff DeMattio, Jennifer Horner, K9 Pete and sergeants Mike Pierce and Paul Rossi.

STACEY CARMANY, TUSCO TV