Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrested a man just south of Gainesville on Wednesday afternoon after they found a loaded gun and more than 1,400 prescription-drug pills in the car he was driving, according to an FHP news release.
Stephen Douglas Griffin, 56, was pulled over on Interstate 75 near milepost 380 because his windows were unlawfully tinted and because he had improperly passed another vehicle, according to his arrest report.
After running a computer check, an FHP trooper found that Griffin had a suspended and expired Kentucky driver's license.
The trooper then began to search the 1994 red Buick that Griffin was driving and found six empty prescription bottles inside, according to Griffin's arrest report.
The trooper then opened the trunk of the car and discovered two black boxes that held a .380-caliber semi-automatic gun and 15 pill bottles, the report stated.
Five of the bottles were unlabeled and contained five different drugs, according to the report and an FHP news release.
The drugs included Hydrocodone and Oxycodone, both of which are pain killers that can be abused as opiates, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Web site.
Methadone, a drug often used today for the treatment of narcotic addition, according to the DEA site, was also found in Griffin's car.
Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, and Amoxicillin, an antibiotic, were found as well.
In total, 1,466 pills were found. According the press release, the street value of those pills is estimated around $30,000.
Troopers also found $5,424 on Griffin, mostly in new $100 bills, and an application for a birth certificate from Ohio under his name with a different date of birth. Troopers also found a list of people named Stephen Griffin of different ages and with different addresses from the Web site People Finder.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents questioned Griffin and a passenger he was driving with.
Griffin said he was from Fort Lauderdale, but the passenger told the FDLE agents that Griffin was coming to Florida to get the prescriptions, which he was planning to sell in Kentucky.
The passenger, who was not identified and not charged with any crime, said Griffin brings people down to Florida to meet doctors in exchange for half of their prescriptions. Griffin is being held in the Alachua County Jail on several misdemeanor and felony charges.
