RESERVE — Dewayne Michael Alexander was arrested Tuesday on charges of illegal drug activity in St. John the Baptist Parish. According to the St. John Sheriff’s Office, Alexander, 27, of Reserve, already had an active warrant for his arrest stemming from a December 2018 simple battery investigation.

Detectives with the St. John Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Criminal Apprehension Team were conducting pro-active patrol in LaPlace at about 1:15 a.m. Tuesday when they observed a red Toyota Camry without a light illuminating the license plate and conducted a traffic stop.

The driver, later identified as Kobe Keller, stopped the vehicle at West Fifth and Fir streets. When officers approached the vehicle, they smelled a strong odor of burnt marijuana coming through the driver side window, according to the St. John Sheriff’s Office.

Police also observed another male subject, identified as Alexander, in the vehicle. The subjects were detained. Officers were aware that Keller has two active warrants for traffic violations, and Alexander had an active warrant for his arrest.

During a search of the vehicle, officers located 30 MDMA (Ecstasy) tablets inside a Cheetos bag, two plastic bags each containing about four grams of crack cocaine and a plastic bag containing about one gram of marijuana, belonging to Alexander. During booking, officers also located a MDMA tablet on Alexander’s person.

Keller was booked for traffic violations and released from custody Tuesday. Alexander was booked with possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine (felony), possession of marijuana first offense (C2A) (misdemeanor), possession with intent to distribute MDMA (felony), possession or distribution of drug paraphernalia first offense (misdemeanor) and taking contraband to/from penal institution prohibited (felony).

He is being held in custody in lieu of a $38,750 bond.