South Carolina Woman Charged With Marijuana Trafficking After Rockingham County Traffic Stop

A Rockingham County deputy arrested a 31-year-old South Carolina driver on a felony marijuana distribution charge during a routine stop in Madison, N.C.

FILE — seized cannabis · U.S. CBP / public domain

A routine traffic stop in Madison, North Carolina, resulted in a felony drug charge against a South Carolina woman after a sheriff's deputy reported finding what authorities called a trafficking amount of marijuana, according to WXLV.

The Stop

WXLV reported that Deputy A. Pulliam of the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office was on routine patrol in the 4700 block of Highway 704 on Oct. 2, 2026, when he pulled over a vehicle for traffic violations. During the stop, authorities said the driver, identified as 31-year-old Halimotou Ndiaye of South Carolina, was found to be in possession of marijuana in an amount authorities characterized as meeting the threshold for trafficking. WXLV's report did not specify an exact weight or other quantity recovered.

Charges and Bond

Ndiaye was charged with felony possession with intent to sell and distribute marijuana along with additional traffic violations, WXLV reported. She was taken to the Rockingham County Magistrate's Office, where a $1,000 secured bond was set and a court date of Oct. 15, 2026, was scheduled, according to the outlet. She was then booked into the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office Detention Facility.

Part of a Pattern of Trafficking Cases

The arrest adds to a string of marijuana trafficking cases reported across the state in recent months. WXLV's own coverage noted a separate Sept. 30 traffic stop in Franklinville, in Randolph County, that led to three arrests after detectives found drugs and a firearm, according to the Randolph County Sheriff's Office. Separately, wfmynews2.com reported in August that two men were charged with trafficking 104 pounds of marijuana in Greensboro. Taken together, the cases suggest North Carolina law enforcement continues to actively pursue marijuana trafficking charges even as the state's broader policy toward cannabis remains unsettled.

A State Still Weighing Legalization

Marijuana remains illegal in North Carolina, and the Ndiaye case comes as state officials continue to study whether and how to change that. WRAL reported that the North Carolina Advisory Council on Cannabis has been examining toxicology-based methods for detecting marijuana-impaired driving, since there is no blood-alcohol-style benchmark for THC impairment. Toxicologist Donna Papsun of NMS Labs told the council that "toxicology is not the magic bullet, but the toxicology is the scientific evidence of exposure," according to WRAL. The outlet also reported that North Carolina had about 175 certified Drug Recognition Experts among roughly 34,000 law enforcement officers statewide as of June, a shortage Roxboro Police Chief David Hess told WRAL made some departments "not currently ready to take this on."

Other recent coverage tracked by Cannabis Newz shows North Carolina policymakers weighing a range of regulatory options, including a possible state-run dispensary model and public consumption rules, as reported by Marijuana Moment and NC Newsline, respectively. A Carolina Journal report from December noted that North Carolina has struggled to enforce existing cannabis rules even as Virginia's legal market has expanded nearby, a dynamic that may bear on cross-border cases like Ndiaye's, though no direct link between that trend and this arrest has been established.

What to Watch

It remains unclear, based on available reporting, what quantity of marijuana was involved in the Rockingham County stop or how the case may proceed at Ndiaye's Oct. 15 court date. More broadly, the state's ongoing review of impaired-driving detection and potential legalization frameworks suggests North Carolina's approach to marijuana enforcement could shift in the coming months, though any changes would require action by lawmakers and Gov. Josh Stein, who WRAL reported has been examining legalization alongside legislators.