Two men were arrested early Friday on separate charges after they were spotted loitering near the near entrance of a closed Hatch Road business.

At 1:02 a.m., Ceres Police Officer Eric Souza was patrolling the closed shopping area at 1540 Hatch Road when he observed Ricky Agundez, 44, of Turlock, and Anthony Garcia, 49, of Patterson, loitering behind the commercial building. Both men began walking away when they saw the officer approaching at which time Agundez tossed a plastic baggy on the ground which was later retrieved and contained a white crystalline substance suspected of being methamphetamine.

Through a records check, Agundez was found to be on probation for theft and Garcia was found to be on parole. Agundez was arrested and booked for possession of a controlled substance and Garcia was arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center for violating the terms of his parole orders.