A traffic stop on Tuesday resulted in the discovery of 40 pounds of an African-grown drug and the arrest of two Illinois residents on a charge of dealing, the Indiana State Police said.

Derald T. Pike, 28, of Bolingbrook, Ill., and Walter T. Stevenson, 31, of Chicago, were both charged with dealing a Schedule I drug, a Class B felony punishable by a term of six to 20 years; and possession of a controlled substance, a Class C felony punishable by a term of two to eight years.

According to police, at 2:10 p.m. Pike and Stevenson, his passenger, were stopped at the 222 mile marker on I-65 in Jasper County—south of the Winamac/Fair Oaks exit—for an unspecified traffic violation.

During the course of the traffic stop, troopers became “suspicious of criminal activity” and during a walk-around of Pike’s vehicle K-9 partner Ryker alerted to the trunk area, police said. On subsequent investigation, the troopers found 40 pounds of khat wrapped in banana leaves, police said.

Khat is a flowering plant mostly grown in the Horn of Africa and users typically chew it to achieve a “stimulant-euphoric” effect, police said.

Pike and Stevenson were transported to Jasper County Jail.

Posted 1/30/2013