A Marion man was arrested Thursday afternoon on the interstate in southern Dallas County for allegedly transporting three pounds of pot.
Kevin Anthony Shinske, 31, of 338 Sixth St., Marion, Iowa, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, failure to affix a drug tax stamp and prohibited acts by maintaining a vehicle for marijuana trafficking.
The incident began about 3 p.m. Thursday near the 104 mile marker of eastbound U.S. Interstate 80, where an Iowa State Patrol Trooper stopped a 2020 Hyundai Elantra, driven by Shinske and bearing Arizona plates, for “multiple traffic violations.”
Shinske did not have a valid driver’s license, according to court records, and during the course of the traffic stop, the trooper “gained reasonable articulable suspicion” to believe Shinske “was participating in criminal activity.”
A narcotics K9 was called in “for a free air sniff,” according to court records, and the animal “gave a positive indication” for the presence of drugs.
A probable-cause search of the vehicle ensued and disclosed “a black backpack in the trunk,” holding “four vacuum-sealed packages containing raw marijuana,” according to court records.
Shinske allegedly “admitted the backpack contained at least three pounds of raw marijuana, and he was transporting it from California to a friend in Cedar Rapids,” according to court records.
Shinske is held in the Dallas County Jail on a $5,000 cash or surety bond, He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Nov. 2 in Dallas County District Court.
*A criminal charge is merely an accusation, and the defendant is innocent until and unless proven guilty.
