COAL GROVE — A simple traffic stop for no license plate light ended with the driver facing drug charges.

Coal Grove Police officers Alfred Blevins and Eddie Combs made the stop just before 4 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Kenneth Smith, 47, of 825 S. Tenth St., Ironton, was pulled over on west-bound U.S. 52. Officers reported the smell of alcohol coming from the car, with Smith slurring his speech and unable to answer simple questions.

Upon searching the car, officers found $1,770, two individually wrapped baggies of marijuana, at about 16 grams total, rolling papers and a cigar blunt.

“They did a real good job,” Coal Grove Police Chief Eric Spurlock said of his officers. “It was a good stop.”

Spurlock also said Smith was on felony probation from other offenses, including drug trafficking charges in Lawrence County from 2008.

Smith was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence and fifth-degree trafficking in drugs. Smith’s blood-alcohol level was 0.124-.044 above the legal limit.

“We are out here trying to get drugs off the street,” Spurlock said.

The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office also assisted in the stop.