CENTRALIA — Bail has been set at $250,000 for a 47-year-old Carlinville man who arrested late Tuesday night, after a traffic stop by Centralia police reportedly revealed he possessed illegal drugs and a firearm.

Joseph A. Cole was stopped in the 200 block of East Noleman in Centralia, driving a grey Hyundai registered  to a Carlinville woman. Police reportedly noticed a marijuana joint sticking from a cigarette pack in one of Cole’s shirt pockets.

Further investigation then revealed two more marijuana joints in the cigarette pack, six baggies of a substance that field tested positive for crystal “ice” methamphetamine inside a cup, as well as a drug pipe containing meth residue.

A loaded handgun was also reportedly found, but a check revealed Cole – a convicted felon – does not have a firearms owner identification card.

He was arrested and taken to the Marion County Jail and the vehicle he was driving was towed. Cole was formally charged this morning in Marion County Court with Class X felony aggravated protected delivery of between 5 and 15 grams of meth, Class X armed habitual criminal and misdemeanor possession of between 2.5 and 10 grams of cannabis.