Canadian County Sheriff's Office Makes 'Shatter' Arrests

A traffic stop along I-40 in Canadian County leads to an unusual drug bust.

Now three suspects are in jail, and investigators say this one is interesting.

It was early Wednesday, when the deputy made the stop.

The Canadian County undersheriff said aside from finding marijuana, a gun, and nearly $19,000 in cash, there was one drug he's never heard of.

“When the deputies were telling me about it this morning, I had to ask questions about it,” said Canadian County Undersheriff, Chris West.

A sophisticated variation of marijuana commonly known as "shatter." West said the THC levels are about 10 times more than the plant itself.

“They use some kind of sophisticated process to extract the THC,” said West.

The discovery was made when a sheriff's deputy spotted this classic Chevy impala station wagon heading east bound on I-40.

12/9/15 Related Story: Trio Arrested In Canadian County Smuggling Drugs Cross County In Classic Car

“I actually had a broken tail light lens, so there was white light emanating from the tail lights,” said West.

But when it swerved onto the outside shoulder of the interstate and then back into the outside lane, the deputy had no choice but to pull it over.

“The deputy wasn’t sure if maybe the guy was tired, drinking, whatever, so he stopped him,” said West.

And Chris West said the smell of marijuana coming from the vintage wagon was overwhelming.

At first the driver, 22-year-old Joseph Miller told sheriff's deputies his two passengers were hitchhikers picked up in Oregon.

But police say 42-year-old Stephen Pendleton is actually Miller's uncle, and 19-year-old Christiana Maddox is Pendleton's girlfriend.

“These people gave us a real cockamamie story. So you know, that gives us reason to believe that there is criminal activity going on,” said West. “Sure enough, we find the dope.”

West said around $15,000 worth of the "shatter" was found inside the old Chevy. 

The three suspects are in the Canadian County Jail on a number of criminal complaints.