Three Arrested on I-87 in Tuxedo After Troopers Seize Drugs, Ghost Gun

A traffic stop on I-87 in the Town of Tuxedo ended with three men in Orange County Jail, a kilogram of marijuana off the road, and a Polymer80 ghost gun loaded with 31 rounds in police custody.

State Police Troop F's Community Stabilization Unit pulled over a 2011 Mercedes-Benz traveling northbound on March 24 after a K9 alerted to the vehicle. The search that followed uncovered approximately 1,021 grams of marijuana, multiple grams of cocaine, oxycodone pills, acetaminophen/oxycodone combination tablets, a Polymer80 9mm pistol, and a 30-round magazine stuffed with 31 rounds.

The driver, Samuel Martinez, 36, of Amsterdam, and passengers Jahdell Young-Smith, 23, of Richmond, and Zimair Tindal, 25, of Brooklyn, were arrested and transported to the Monroe barracks for processing before being arraigned in Orange County's Centralized Arraignment Part.

The ghost gun is the detail most likely to draw prosecutorial scrutiny. Unlike conventional firearms, a Polymer80 pistol is assembled from an unfinished polymer receiver kit, meaning it carries no serial number and cannot be traced through standard federal databases. New York prohibits possession of unregistered ghost firearms and imposes strict limits on high-capacity magazines; a 30-round magazine loaded beyond its marked capacity compounds that legal exposure for all three defendants.

The drug mix tells a separate story. Marijuana exceeding one kilogram, combined with cocaine and oxycodone pills in the same vehicle, points investigators toward distribution rather than personal use, reflected in the top charge: criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree with an intent-to-sell element. Oxycodone pills sourced outside a licensed pharmacy increasingly test positive for fentanyl contamination, a public health risk that extends well beyond the stopped Mercedes to whoever those pills were bound for.

All three were remanded to Orange County Jail following arraignment. Martinez was held without bail. Young-Smith and Tindal each faced bail set at $25,000 cash, $50,000 bond, or $100,000 partially secured bond. Martinez also received traffic tickets stemming from the original stop.

The four counts include criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal possession of an ammunition feeding device, and criminal possession of a firearm. The Orange County District Attorney's office will determine whether to proceed by felony complaint or formal indictment as the case advances.