MOULTRIE, GA.  — A speeding infraction for a Tifton teen-ager in Norman Park likely will cost more than a ticket as the officer found suspected marijuana and more than 100 prescription pills during the traffic stop.

Police arrested Lewis Dean Nickell Jr. after an investigation by the Norman Park Police Department and the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office.

The Norman Park officer stopped Nickell’s car at East Weeks Street and U.S. Highway 319, said Sgt. Justin Searcy of the sheriff’s office’s Drug Enforcement Team.

“As the officer approached the vehicle he smelled an odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle,” Searcy said. “He asked the driver if he had any drugs in the car (and) he produced a clear bag containing a green, leafy substance.”

The bag contained less than an ounce of suspected marijuana, according to police.

“When the officer asked the subject to step out of the vehicle he tried to retrieve something in the back seat as he was stepping out,” Searcy said. “The officer advised the subject to show him his hands. At that time Mr. Nickell dropped a clear, Ziploc bag containing approximately 135 pills.”

Inside the bag — which contained a total of 134 pills with one found inside the car — was suspected prescription alprazolam. Alprazolam is the generic name for Xanax. 

Alprazolam is a tranquilizer used in the treatment of panic and anxiety disorders, according to the webmd.com web site.

Searcy said that a search of Nickell’s car also turned up a digital scale, grinder and cigarette rolling papers.

Police charged Nickell, 18, Isabella-Nashville Road, with possession of marijuana and possession of a Schedule IV substance.