Jordan Buie

jbuie@tennessean.com

Metro police say a Los Angeles man tried to smuggle 900 Oxymorphone prescription pain pills worth $75,000 through Nashville International Airport in a vitamin jar in his checked luggage Monday night.

Marques Edwards, 28, may have thought he was home free when he arrived in Nashville, ready to pick up his baggage and go, but airport police and Drug Enforcement Agency officials had been notified about a suspicious piece of luggage.

A drug dog sniffed Edwards' bag and detected the odor of narcotics.

When Edwards claimed the bag, law enforcement officers approached him, identified themselves and asked for permission to search the luggage.

Edwards tried to run out of the airport terminal, but officials stopped him.

Narcotics officials charged Edwards early Tuesday with possession of the narcotics with intent to re-sell and evading arrest. He is being held in lieu of $360,000.

Contact reporter Jordan Buie at 615-726-5970 or on Twitter @jordanbuie