Traffic stop leads to drug charges for Sikeston man

EAST PRAIRIE - A traffic stop led to the arrest of a Sikeston man on multiple drug-related charges.

At approximately 12:09 a.m. Tuesday, an East Prairie police officer stopped a vehicle driven by 21-year-old Tyler B. Larkins. According to a news release, during the stop the officer detected the odor of marijuana coming from the inside of Larkins' vehicle

Larkins declined to give his consent to search the vehicle at that time. Another East Prairie Police officer arrived on the scene and confirmed the odor emitted from the motor vehicle was consistent with the odor of marijuana.

After gaining probable cause to search the motor vehicle, Larkins was asked to exit the vehicle and detained. At that time the officer noticed that Larkins did not have any shoes on and Larkins stated he had slid his flip flops off inside the vehicle.

"After retrieving the flip flops from the driver's side floorboard it was discovered there was 23.9 grams of marijuana underneath them," the news release stated. "The search also produced several items including prescription narcotic drugs, glass-shaped pipes with residue that field tested positive for methamphetamine and multiple paraphernalia items associated with both methamphetamine and marijuana usage."

Larkins is currently being held in the East Prairie Police Department jail. He is charged with failure to register motor vehicle, failure to maintain financial responsibility (i.e. insurance), possession of a controlled substance, unlawful use of drug paraphernalia, and possession of up to 35 grams of marijuana.