Braintree police arrested three men at the South Shore Plaza last Thursday, one of whom claimed that the arrest was unlawful because they had medical marijuana cards.

After officers found marijuana, hashish and hundreds of dollars in cash in the vehicle the men were occupying and none of them could produce registration cards issued by the Department of Public Health, they were charged with various crimes. Derick Eaton, 30 of Mashpee, Brian Lally, 30 of Plymouth, and Myron Lapine, 50- of Gloucester, were charged with conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substances Act, Police Chief Russell Jenkins said in a statement.

"Officers William Donnellan and Derrek Burr were patrolling the parking lots when they observed the men acting suspiciously while parked at the end of a parking aisle away from pedestrian traffic," Jenkins said. "Upon approaching the vehicle, the officers observed an amount of money (later determined to be $420) on the center console and discovered the rear seat passenger, later identified as [Lapine] in possession of a quantity of marijuana and hashish."