A traffic stop in Murfreesboro ended with the discovery of credit card skimmers and fraudulent credit cards. The stop took place on Chaffin Place and when the MPD officer approached the car, he said that he detected the odor of marijuana. The smell led police to do a "Probable cause search."

Probable cause is a reasonable belief that a person has committed or will commit a crime. For probable cause to exist, a police officer must have sufficient knowledge of facts to warrant a belief that a suspect is committing a crime. The belief must be based on factual evidence, not just on suspicion. In this case, the evidence was the smell of marijuana.

During the search of the car, numerous credit and debit cards were found along with several electronic devices and a card reader. When the case was turned over to detectives it was revealed that the cards had been recoded with other people's credit card information.

A total of seven suspects were taken to the police department for questioning. Their names have not been released.

Source:

MPD Incident Report #16-1671