LOCAL : 3 Held in Gorman Cocaine Find

A routine traffic stop on the Golden State Freeway near Gorman resulted in three arrests after $40,000 worth of cocaine was found hidden in the body of a car, the California Highway Patrol said this morning.

Jimmy Lawrence Carter, 32, of Compton, who was free on bail on a murder charge, and Harry Truman Sims, 18, and Sylvester Corbin, 35, both of Los Angeles, were arrested on suspicion of transportation of a controlled substance.

The car in which they were driving was pulled over for speeding Thursday afternoon, the CHP said. Officer Steve Munday said that as he approached the car, he smelled marijuana and saw cans of beer. He said he searched the car and found a bag containing cocaine in a hiding place inside the body of the car. He declined to say where.

The three were arrested and the car was towed to the CHP station in Newhall, where a more thorough search was conducted and more cocaine was found, Munday said.

He said a total of 400 grams of powder and rock cocaine packaged in small plastic bags were found.

Sims and Corbin were being held at the Sheriff’s Department jail in Valencia in lieu of $50,000 bail each. Carter was also being held at the jail with his bail was set at $1 million because he was already free on $50,000 bail in a Compton murder case, Munday said.