A grey sedan with obscured plates led to the arrest of three alleged drug traffickers on Route 91, according to state police. Trooper Hunter Ratelle, observing northbound traffic near Deerfield, initiated a stop on the sedan Monday, after spotting the vehicle's registration tag issue.

Upon contact with the driver, identified as 48-year-old Nicol Murano of Brattleboro, Vt., it was revealed that she had no valid license. She was promptly handcuffed and placed in a cruiser, her passengers, lacking licenses as well, were also questioned. The Massachusetts State Police reported Troopers Curtis Bamberg and Stephen Shearer arrived for backup.

A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered 224 grams of crack cocaine and a disassembled 9mm Smith and Wesson handgun, with a 16-round magazine hidden behind the driver's seat. Neither Murano, her passengers, Katie Beam, 36, also from Brattleboro, Vt., and Najee Robertson, 35, of Bridgeport, Conn., were licensed to carry a firearm.

Following these discoveries, all three individuals were arrested and brought to the Shelburne Falls barracks for booking, where they faced a bevy of charges including cocaine trafficking and firearm possession during a felony offense. Murano, who, according to the police report, was behind the wheel without a valid license also picked up charges for unlicensed vehicle operation and number plate violation. Meanwhile, Robertson, with a prior related to violent or drug crime was slapped with an additional firearm violation charge.

The trio appeared in Greenfield District Court to answer for the charges. Details of their arraignment and any potential pleas are not stated in the police report, but the legal process is now unmistakably in motion for these accused traffickers caught on a May afternoon that broke the routine hum of Route 91.