NEW CITY – Detectives from the gang unit in Paterson, N.J., who stopped to check out an idling car blocking traffic found two pounds of pot inside and arrested both occupants — one of them from New City, authorities said.

Driver Steven Baker, 22, of Lodi, and passenger Keith Chandler, 26, were charged with having the drug with the intent to sell it following the 11:30 p.m. stop Friday at North 10th and Temple Streets, Police Director Jerry Speziale said.

The detectives were checking out crime hot spots in the city’s First Ward when they approached the silver vehicle with out-of-state license plates, Speziale said. Intending to issue the driver a summons, the investigators “detected a strong odor of raw marijuana emanating from the vehicle,” he said.

They seized the pot, along with more than $1,000 in suspected drug proceds, while arresting both men, the director said.