METHUEN — Four people were arrested on marijuana charges after undercover police followed them to a Mystic Street apartment complex.
The officers first spotted the car with four people inside in a parking lot near The Loop and followed it onto Interstate 93 into Salem, N.H., and back to Methuen where the driver left the highway at Pelham Street and drove to the apartment complex about 9 p.m. Monday.
Police identified the driver as Vanessa Macrae, 20, of Woburn, and the car as a black Mitsubishi Eclipse.
When the driver pulled up to the apartment complex, a teen later identified as Anthony Vinciguerra, 17, of 687 Prospect St., got out and went inside, returning to the car a few minutes later.
The driver then left the lot and drove to another parking lot at 145 Pelham St., and stopped.
Officers approached the car and could smell the odor of burning marijuana, police said.
Macrae was ordered from the car and searched, along with her front seat passenger, David Frechette, 17, of 8 Garden City Road.
Vinciguerra and a 16-year-old Methuen girl were removed from the back seat and searched, police said.
Frechette was found with a bag of marijuana, a .38-caliber bullet, and a prescription pill bottle containing 14 yellow, round pills police said were cyclobenzaprine. He was charged with possession of marijuana, possession of cyclobenzaprine, and illegal possession of ammunition.
Cyclobenzaprine is a muscle relaxant that works by blocking nerve impulses or pain sensations that are sent to the brain. The drug is used in the treatment of skeletal muscle conditions, such as pain or injury.
Vinciguerra was found with a marijuana pipe, a bag of marijuana, and marijuana buds. He was charged with distribution of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school zone, and possession of marijuana.
Macrae and the 16-year-old girl were both charged with possession of marijuana.
Police found a blue velvet ring box containing a gold ring with three diamonds on Vinciguerra. He told police his mother gave him the ring to pawn, police said.
The ring was held pending a determination of ownership, police said.
Macrae was found to have a plastic bag of marijuana in her purse and rolling papers in the center console of the car, police said.
She told police she gave Vinciguerra $125 cash to buy half an ounce of marijuana, police said.
