ARDEN, N.C. (828newsNOW) —
Four people are facing drug charges after a search warrant turned up fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, five firearms and a large amount of cash in a home across the street from a school in Arden, authorities said.
The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office on Friday announced a total of 22 criminal charges against four people following a months-long investigation that involved the Illegal Gun Reduction and Narcotics Task Force and multiple other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
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According to a release, following a traffic stop officers from the task force executed a search warrant at 106 Crescent Hill Drive in Arden, which is near Canongate Catholic High School.
They reportedly seized 34 grams of fentanyl; five firearms; 4 grams of methamphetamine; 3.1 grams of cocaine; $18,865 of U.S. currency; and numerous items of drug paraphernalia, rounds of ammunition and electronic devices.
Based on information provided from a long list of assisting agencies, including the Asheville offices of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), “this drug trafficking organization had numerous ties to other jurisdictions throughout our region,” the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office said in the release.
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According to the sheriff’s office:
Jana Shay Edge is charged with:
- Four counts of conspire to sell Schedule I
- Trafficking in opium/heroin (fentanyl)
- Possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver (PWIMSD) fentanyl
- PWIMSD methamphetamine
- PWIMSD cocaine
- Maintaining dwelling CS
- M/S/D/P a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school
- Possession of drug paraphernalia
Russell Travis Toothman is charged with:
- Trafficking in opium/heroin (fentanyl)
- Conspire to sell Schedule 1
- M/S/D/P a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school
- Possession of a stolen firearm
- Possession of a firearm by felon
- Possession of methamphetamine
- Possession of drug paraphernalia
Derick Alexander Powell Jr. is charged with:
- Conspire to sell Schedule 1
- M/S/D/P a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school
Tami Jo Bryant is charged with:
- Conspire to sell Schedule 1
- M/S/D/P a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school
Sheriff Quentin Miller said in the release, “The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office will continue to work to dismantle high-level drug trafficking operations in our community.”
