N.J. cops: Hempstead man had 27 pounds of pot

A Hempstead man is in jail on a drug charge after police in New Jersey found him with 27 pounds of marijuana -- with a street value of $189,000 -- during a traffic stop Saturday on a highway near Somerville, N.J., prosecutors said.

Tramain Francis, 27, of 100 Terrace Ave., Unit 468, was arraigned on a charge of first-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and is being held on a $100,000 cash-only bail, the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office said in a news release.

Information on Francis' next court appearance was not immediately available.

Francis was a passenger in a minivan traveling west on I-78, north of Somerville, when it was stopped by police at about 7:25 a.m., the release said.

Warren Township Police Officer Jeffrey Sohler said in the release there was a strong odor of marijuana coming from the minivan, and its driver, a man from Carlisle, Pa., gave police permission to search the vehicle.

Police found 27 pounds of marijuana and said further investigation revealed that it belonged to Francis, who was one of four passengers, the release said.

One other passenger -- Kearah Baker, 18, of Newville, Pa., -- was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and was released on her own recognizance, police said.