A Springfield woman was arrested Thursday morning after a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper reported finding methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia during a traffic stop in Wright County.
According to the probable cause statement, the trooper stopped a Ford Taurus on Route V after seeing it cross the center line on Highway 5 and noting it displayed expired 2015 registration. The driver, identified as Maria Cheri Ince, appeared nervous, with “her hands…shaking,” and later agreed to a consent search of the vehicle.
Inside a black T‑shirt on the driver’s floorboard, the trooper reported finding “a plastic baggie with white crystal substance…a blue rubber straw… and a glass smoking device,” all consistent with methamphetamine. Ince told the trooper the methamphetamine was hers and that she had smoked it the night before. She also disclosed another smoking device in the passenger console, which was located during the search.
Ince was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and taken to the Wright County Jail, bond was set at $2500.
