SALISBURY — A Rowan County man and woman were charged with trafficking in methamphetamine after a drug-sniffing dog smelled the substance in their vehicle.

The driver of the BMW was stopped by a deputy on Jan. 14 in the 400 block of Trexler Road after the vehicle crossed the center line, a report said.

Deputies first encountered the vehicle on Stokes Ferry Road and saw it cross a double yellow line, make suspicious movements and take an illegal turn before it was stopped.

The car was driven by Katelyn Michelle Marks, 23. Daniel Lee Walker, 36, was a passenger.

Officials said Marks did not have her driver’s license and indicated that the residence she pulled into was her “family” house. She said she had come to get a few things. The deputy asked Marks who lives at the residence, and she said she did not know. She eventually admitted she was lying and was nervous, the report said.

The deputy called in a K-9 unit, and the dog indicated the presence and odor of a controlled substance.

The BMW, which was registered to someone else, was searched. Deputies found a blue bag in the back passenger floorboard that had drug paraphernalia, scales and 466 grams of methamphetamine. A red box was found in the rear floorboard and contained drug paraphernalia, scales, 7.5 dosage units of Clonazepam, and multiple bags of methamphetamine, totaling 18 grams.

Deputies also found a .45-caliber handgun under the front passenger seat where Walker had been seated.

A total of 484 grams of methamphetamine was seized, worth more than $48,000.

Walker and Marks were each charged with Level III trafficking in methamphetamine by possession and transportation; possession with intent to manufacture or sell meth; possession with intent to manufacture or sell a Schedule IV controlled substance; and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Walker was additionally charged with carrying a concealed weapon.

Both were placed under a $100,000 secured bond. Walker was released, and Marks remains in the Rowan County Detention Center.

Under North Carolina law, Level III methamphetamine trafficking carries a sentence of 225 to 279 months in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Walker received a deferred prosecution in 2018 for a meth charge and is on supervised probation. He was convicted in 2018 of misdemeanor possession of stolen property.

Marks received a deferred prosecution in 2015 for possession of a Schedule I controlled substance. She has a pending charge of possession of meth in Cleveland County and a pending charge of possession of stolen property Rowan County.