A routine traffic stop in Summerville resulted in the arrest of a Chattooga County man on methamphetamine charges after deputies reportedly discovered suspected drugs and drug paraphernalia inside his vehicle.

According to an incident report from the Chattooga County Sheriff’s Office, Ronald Wayne Gwin Jr., 48, was arrested on July 11 and charged with Possession of Methamphetamine, along with several traffic offenses.

The report states Deputy Matt Wilson was patrolling the area of U.S. Highway 27 at approximately 8:02 p.m. when he observed a gold 2011 Dodge Durango fail to stop at the stop sign at the intersection with Highway 27. The deputy also reported the driver failed to activate a turn signal before entering the highway.

After initiating a traffic stop, Deputy Wilson made contact with the driver, identified as Gwin. According to the report, the deputy detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. Gwin allegedly admitted he had smoked marijuana earlier in the day.

Deputies asked Gwin to step out of the vehicle and obtained consent to search his pockets. During the search, deputies reportedly located a hypodermic syringe in his shirt pocket. A second syringe found in his pants pocket allegedly contained a white crystalline substance that Gwin identified as methamphetamine, telling deputies he had used the drug earlier that morning.

A subsequent search of the vehicle reportedly uncovered additional hypodermic syringes, a container containing suspected methamphetamine, suspected methamphetamine residue, several used cotton swabs beneath the passenger seat, and a pipe containing suspected liquid methamphetamine.

According to the incident report, the suspected methamphetamine produced a positive result during a roadside field test.

Gwin was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Chattooga County Jail. The vehicle was released to a towing service.