The driver, Samuel Torres, 27, of Port St. Lucie, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with intent to sell, manufacture or deliver, and possession of drug paraphernalia for retail sale, police said.[1][2][3] The investigation began on 28 October 2026, when officers looking for a vehicle linked to a reported domestic disturbance stopped him near Southwest Rice Avenue and Southwest Chartwell Street.[1][2][3] He was taken to the St. Lucie County Jail and released the next day on a $22,500 bail, according to the jail’s website.[4]

Police said officers saw suspected marijuana inside the vehicle and called in the department’s Special Investigations Unit.[1][2][3] Detectives found multiple vacuum-sealed and individually packaged bags, as well as loose suspected marijuana in the seats and floorboard, and investigators said the marijuana had been packaged for distribution.[1][2][3] The traffic stop led to the seizure of nearly 9 pounds (about 4.1 kilograms) of marijuana and $1,450 in cash, police said.[1][5][2][6][3] The 2019 Kia Optima was also seized under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act.[1][2][3]

Torres told officers he and his girlfriend had argued and that he grabbed the marijuana from inside the home and put it in the vehicle to avoid her calling law enforcement to take it.[4] He said he sells narcotics to make money for his family, that he is unemployed, and that he had been selling marijuana for about a year, according to the arrest report.[4]