Approximately 815 grams of suspected cocaine were found in the possession of a Chapel Hill man during a traffic stop.
Officials say a deputy pulled over a silver Kawasaki motorcycle on Highway 54 near the intersection of White Cross Road around 10:40 Wednesday morning for a registration plate violation.
A release says the suspect was making “suspicious movements with his hands toward the waist band area of the shorts he was wearing.” The deputy then “gained a position of control over the suspect” and held the individual at gun point.
Gabriel Pineda Rodriguez-Leal, of Butler Road in Chapel Hill, was then taken into custody without further incident after assisting deputies found a package that contained the suspected cocaine.
Authorities say they believe Rodriguez-Leal was trying to discard the package after being stopped, which resulted in the suspicious movement that caught the deputy’s attention.
Rodriguez-Leal was charged with two counts of trafficking more than 400 grams of cocaine by possession and transporting.
Rodriguez-Leal made his first court appearance on Thursday afternoon and is being held in the Orange County Detention Center under a $200,000 secured bond.
He is set to appear in court again on Monday.
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