Mamou PD arrests woman on multiple drug charges

MAMOU – Mamou Police Department is continuing their fight to take drugs off of the streets of their community.
On January 23, 2016 MPD Patrol Supervisor Phyllis Soileau and officers Ethan Johns and Mike Thomas arrested 35-year old Bethani Tovah Benjudah for prohibited acts, possession of a schedule I with the intent to distribute, possession of a schedule II with the intent to distribute (three counts), violation of a controlled dangerous substance, switched plates, no insurance, and driving under suspension.
Benjudah’s car was parked on Third Street, in Mamou, near the area where graffiti had been painted the night before.
Due to this, Soileau requested that dispatch run the license plate to see who the vehicle belonged to. Dispatch informed Soileau that the license plate on the vehicle came back as a cancelled plate.
After Benjudah began driving away from where her vehicle had been parked, Soileau and Johns conducted a routine traffic stop.
It was during this stop that the officers learned that along with a canceled license plate, Benjudah also had no insurance and a suspended license.
Johns then proceeded to inform Benjudah that she would be placed under arrest for operating a motor vehicle under suspension.
According to a MPD press release, at this time Johns also “advised that he would like to do a search of the vehicle for inventory purposes.”
After Benjudah agreed to the search, Johns began inventorying the vehicle so that a record could be kept of any valuables that were in the car at the time of the traffic stop.
During this process, Johns came across a clear plastic bag in the back of the vehicle filled with a “green leafy substance that was believed to be marijuana.”
According to the press release, while Thomas, who showed up on the scene later, was inventorying the front of the vehicle the officer “observed a tin box shoved under the edge of the front passenger seat.”
Inside of the box, officers found three small bags containing a white powdery substance and a larger zip lock bag containing a crystal type substance that officers suspect to be crystal meth.
The list of drugs found in Benjudah’s vehicle did not end there however. Officers then discovered three blue pills in the tin box that is believed to be Dextroamphetamine.
After being booked into the town’s jail, Johns entered into evidence: 19.7 grams marijuana, 23.3 grams crystal meth, and multiple drug paraphernalia items including two syringes.