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Expired vehicle tag leads to drug discovery, arrest
Ceres Cop Car

A 23-year-old Riverbank man driving through Ceres was arrested for drug possession after he was pulled over Saturday evening by an officer who noticed his car had expired registration.

At 9:43 p.m. Officer Mathew Berlier was traveling westbound on Hatch Road behind a black Lexus with registration expired since January 2016. Officer pulled over the driver, Arnulfo Constantino, 23, of Riverbank, and asked him to step out of the car since the California vehicle code called for his car to be towed. During an inventory check of the vehicle, a glass pipe commonly associated with smoking methamphetamine was found tucked between the driver seat and center console. Constantino admitted owning the pipe and he was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia. During a pat-down search, a plastic baggy with a white crystal substance was found in Constantino's pants pocket. The substance appeared to be methamphetamine.

Constantino was transported and booked into the County Jail for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.