Traffic stop results in drug trafficking, gun arrest

DORSET — Vermont State Police have arrested a 24-year-old man on drug and firearms charges following a routine traffic stop.
Police stopped the vehicle on U.S. Route 7 in Dorset on Thursday afternoon. They found that a passenger had heroin and a loaded handgun.
Police later identified him as Cuwan Merritt of Kings County, N.Y., after they were given a false name.
Police said there was a warrant out for Merritt’s arrest from New York, but did not specify the charge.
Merritt was charged in Vermont with trafficking and possessing heroin; possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony;  being  a fugitive from justice; identity theft and giving false information to law enforcement.