Commonwealth v. Gonsalves

The defendant is charged with trafficking in cocaine in violation of G. L. c. 94C, § 32E (b). The cocaine' was seized by a State trooper, who, while on routine traffic patrol at about 9 p.m. on March 5, 1997, stopped a taxicab on Route 195 near Marion, after he had seen the taxicab drift over *659a marked lane into the breakdown lane. In the course of the stop, the trooper ordered the defendant, who was sitting in the rear of the taxi, to get out. After conversing with the defendant, the trooper searched the rear seat area and seized a package of cocaine weighing approximately seventy-eight…