New South Wales police say the discovery of a body in the back seat of a car in Newcastle is not being treated as suspicious "at this stage".
Police found the body of a 52-year-old man when they pulled the car over on Griffiths Road at Lambton about 3:30am on Monday.
The 52-year-old driver of the car was arrested and taken to Waratah Police Station, and a crime scene was established.
Detective sergeant Scott Wheeler said the driver would be charged with matters not related to the body.
"He's going to be charged with unrelated matters, driving offences and matters of the like," he said.
"The death itself we are not currently considering as suspicious, but obviously investigations will continue."
Detective Sergeant Wheeler said the dead man was known to police.
"There will be a post-mortem conducted ones body tomorrow, so we will know more at this stage, but as we said, the circumstances surrounding his death are not considered suspicious," he said.
Det Sgt Wheeler said a drug overdose was a strong line of inquiry.
A police media release said: "At this time, the incident is not being treated as suspicious."
The car has been seized for forensic examination.
Investigations into the matter are continuing.
