It took a drug-sniffing dog and the execution of a search warrant, but a pair of noses didn't lie, and Collingswood Police arrested a pair of suspects they say were transporting narcotics.

It all started Jan. 14, when an officer pulled over a vehicle with tinted windows near the intersection of Route 130 and Haddon Avenue.

Although the driver, Michael L. Hernandez-Espinos, 22, of Magnolia, did have medical permission for the darkened windows, the officer on the scene reported a strong odor of raw marijuana emanating from within the vehicle.

Hernandez-Espinos and his passenger, Jhan E. Caceres, 21, of Camden City, denied knowledge of any such odor (as well as denying smelling it). Hernandez-Espinos did give police his verbal consent to search the vehicle cabin.

Inside, police found a black knit glove in the back seat that contained a clear plastic bag with what they believed to be crack-cocaine. Hernandez-Espinos was wearing a matching glove, police say.

Neither man confessed to ownership of the substance, and because the odor of raw marijuana was so strong, police called Camden County sheriffs and a K-9 unit to inspect the vehicle. Police say the dog’s behaviors indicated that there was some type of drug in the vehicle, which was substantial grounds for a search warrant.

In the trunk of the vehicle, police found a digital scale; a black glove containing six rounds of ball ammunition; a jewelry box containing yellow, heat-sealed baggies with a powdery substance, purportedly cocaine; and two small jars of what they believed to be marijuana.

Hernandez-Espinos was charged with possession of a controlled, dangerous substance (CDS) with the intent to distribute and failure to surrender CDS to a law enforcement officer. Caceres was charged with possession of CDS with the intent to distribute, possession of marijuana less than 50 grams and failure to surrender CDS to a law enforcement officer. 

The bullets were confiscated by police, but neither Hernandez-Espinos nor Caceres was charged for their possession. Both were served with their notices and released on their own recognizance.