Three North Carolina residents were accused of distributing opiates on Dec. 29 after Moore County Sheriff’s deputies stopped their car. Deputies allegedly witnessed a drug deal in a Seven Springs Food Lion parking lot before they conducted the traffic stop. When the car was searched, deputies allegedly found 119 Oxycodone pills along with $724 in cash.
The three are a 46-year-old woman, a 50-year-old man and a 74-year-old woman who all reside at the same address in Jackson Springs. Authorities believe that the pills that were found in the trio’s car have an approximate street value of $2,380. All of the defendants were being held at Moore County Detention Center on a $100,000 bond.
In addition to trafficking in opiates, the three accused individuals were each handed drug charges for conspiring to traffic in opiates, conspiring to sell and deliver a controlled substance, possession with intent to sell and deliver a controlled substance and felony maintaining of a vehicle for storing a controlled substance. Though reports indicate that deputies witnessed a drug deal, it is unclear whether any other parties were taken into custody for the same incident.
People who have been handed drug charges after being pulled over may be able to dispute them on the grounds that police conducted an unlawful traffic stop. There has to be at least a reasonable suspicion that a crime is being committed, though it does not have to be connected with the charges that are ultimately issued. One of the first steps that a criminal defense attorney will often take is to review the evidence to see if that requirement was complied with.
Source: WNCN, “Moore County trio caught making a drug deal, charged with trafficking opiates,” Dec. 30, 2016
