Police seize 92 pounds of marijuana in North Bellmore

Nassau County police officers seized 92 pounds of marijuana in a traffic stop in North Bellmore last weekend.

Law enforcement officials said 1st precinct officers in an unmarked car spotted Mizzie Artis, 27, of Bellport, talking on her cell phone and not wearing a seatbelt while driving east on Columbus Avenue on Jan. 26. Police found the marijuana in her 1999 Hyundai when stopping her for the traffic violations.

Artis drove to Armand Street, where she met a man in a minivan, who fled when police approached both cars. She also drove away, failing to stop at a stop sign and signal while turning. When officials stopped Artis, they saw two cardboard boxes in the car that reportedly smelled like marijuana.

K-9 police officers responded to the scene and performed a narcotics search of the car, which resulted in a positive alert on the box in the front seat. Two additional boxes were found in the trunk, bringing the total approximate weight of the marijuana in Artis’s car to 92 pounds.

Chris Munzing, a representative of the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, said Artis was arraigned on Jan. 27. She was charged with criminal possession of marijuana in the first degree and four vehicle and traffic law infractions.

Artis was conditionally released, Munzing said, before she was due back in court on Wednesday. She is represented by an attorney from the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, which does not comment on cases as a matter of policy.