Wednesday, May 20WATCHFUL EYE

Tag: drugs

Alexandria Deputy Charged for Drug Smuggling
No Comments
Crime

Alexandria Deputy Charged for Drug Smuggling

The Alexandria Sheriff’s Office (ASO) has arrested one of its own on drug-related charges. Former deputy Amarachukwu Igwe was allegedly caught attempting to smuggle narcotics into the Alexandria Adult Detention Center on April 4. According to ASO, her intent was to provide the drugs to an inmate. Authorities took Igwe into custody before any narcotics were delivered to the intended recipient or entered the facility’s general population. Igwe was transported to the Arlington County Detention Facility for processing. She faces the following charges: Delivery of drugs to prisoners Conspiracy to deliver drugs to prisoners Possession of a Schedule III controlled substance Igwe joined the Sheriff’s Office on July 14, 2025. Sheriff Sean Casey said her employment was terminated...
Read More
Virginia Beach Trafficker Allegedly Found Sleeping in Vehicle
No Comments
VIDEOS

Virginia Beach Trafficker Allegedly Found Sleeping in Vehicle

An alleged Virginia Beach drug trafficker was allegedly found sleeping in a vehicle leading to a major seizure, according to Virginia Beach Police Department. WATCH: Follow the Watchful Eye on X, Facebook, Instagram, Rumble& YouTubeto keep up with what's happening in Virginia.
Read More
More Arrests in $1.1 Million Drug Smuggling Case at Virginia Women’s Prison
No Comments
Crime, News

More Arrests in $1.1 Million Drug Smuggling Case at Virginia Women’s Prison

As previously reported, this fall VADOC announced a list of arrests and charges linked to a $1.1 million drug smuggling investigation at Virginia Correctional Center for Women in Goochland. Now, VADOC has announced a second round of charges. WATCH: Follow the Watchful Eye on X , Facebook, Instagram, Rumble & YouTubeto keep up with what's happening in Virginia
Read More
Martinsville pill mill doctor sentenced for +460 drug charges
No Comments
News, Popular

Martinsville pill mill doctor sentenced for +460 drug charges

A 42-year-old Martinsville doctor convicted on 467 drug-related charges has been sentenced to 40 years in federal prison. Joel Smithers opened his medical practice in Martinsville in August 2015. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia, Smithers prescribed controlled substances to every patient he saw. Charge All Your Devices at Once: 5-in-1 Fast Charging Station w/ Wireless Charging The drugs involved in Smithers’ scheme included oxymorphone, oxycodone, hydromorphone, and fentanyl. Most of his so-called patients traveled hundreds of miles to reach his office. Smithers, who did not accept insurance, collected over $700,000 in cash and credit card payments by March 7, 2017, when federal agents executed a search warrant at his practice. In tot...
Read More
Feds involved after Patrick County’s largest meth seizure ever
No Comments
News, Trending

Feds involved after Patrick County’s largest meth seizure ever

Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith announced a major arrest connected to the largest meth seizure in county history—an operation that has intensified efforts to dismantle a broader drug network. On July 1, deputies arrested Mark L. Tatum, a 48-year-old resident of Stuart, who was found in possession of seven pounds of suspected methamphetamine and three ounces of cocaine laced with fentanyl. Avoid Drink Spiking | Test My Drink Strips Tatum was out on bond from an April charge involving felony eluding of law enforcement and had an ankle monitor. First Sergeant Barry Vipperman, who oversees the county’s electronic monitoring program, discovered Tatum was over 150 miles beyond county limit, and called attention to the violation. Investigator Oscar Tejeda, part of Patrick County’s n...
Read More
Bedford investigation leads to $247K drug seizure in Roanoke
No Comments
News

Bedford investigation leads to $247K drug seizure in Roanoke

What began as an investigation into fentanyl-laced meth and heroin in Bedford led to an arrest and seizure in Roanoke, Virginia State Police reported. Special agents involved in the Bedford investigation began tracking a suspect, leading them to a location in the 2400 block of Broadway Ave. SW in Roanoke, where he was reportedly operating. Charge All Your Devices at Once: 5-in-1 Fast Charging Station w/ Wireless Charging That suspect, 27-year-old Jayshawn Lamonte Lomax, was present when authorities executed a search warrant at the Roanoke location on May 30. According to VSP, approximately 1,886 grams of suspected fentanyl, 1,275 grams of meth, and 425 grams of marijuana—with a total estimated street value of $247,000—were seized. Authorities also reportedly confiscated two ...
Read More
2 Blue Ridge Task Force investigations closed with arrests
No Comments
Crime, News

2 Blue Ridge Task Force investigations closed with arrests

Two months into 2025, and Blue Ridge Narcotics and Gang Task Force wrapped up two investigations with seizures and arrests. At the end of January, Virginia State Police, a member of the Blue Ridge task force, announced partners ended a lengthy investigation with the arrest of Howard B. Jenkins of Manassas. According to VSP, Culpeper Sheriff’s office and other task force officers stopped a Chevy Tahoe on Route 3 near Yellow Bottom Road in Culpeper for not having a license plate. The driver 43-year-old Jenkins, tried to run but was quickly caught. Officers 400 grams of cocaine in the vehicle with a street value of $40,000, along with 19.2 grams of fentanyl that had a street value of $1,900 and $980, VSP reported.      Jenkins was charged with two c...
Read More
DWR K-9 tracks suspect, drugs found, 5 Martinsville men arrested
No Comments
News

DWR K-9 tracks suspect, drugs found, 5 Martinsville men arrested

Henry County Sheriff’s Office credited a Dept. of Wildlife Resources (DWR) K-9 for playing a significant role in a police chase that ultimately led to the arrest of 5 Martinsville men. On Thursday, at around 4 p.m., the Henry County Narcotics Interdiction Unit unsuccessfully tried to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation. The driver led deputies on a police chase that spanned for approximately 3 miles, according to HCSO. On Stockton Rd., the driver, now identified as Donovan A. Nibblett, reportedly got out and ran. But a DWR K-9 tracked him, leading police to his location at a residence on Willow Court where he was arrested. HCSO said meth was found in the vehicle, and after Nibblett was arrested, narcotics investigators linked his incident to an ongoing narcotics investigation a...
Read More
Poquoson woman charged for drug smuggling attempt at Haynesville Correctional Center
No Comments
News, Trending

Poquoson woman charged for drug smuggling attempt at Haynesville Correctional Center

Today, Virginia Department of Corrections announced a Poquoson woman is facing a felony drug distribution charge after a foiled smuggling attempt at Haynesville Correctional Center last fall. On November 22, Kristyn Nicole Mazzariello came to the Haynesville facility to visit a family member for an inmate graduation, reported VADOC. She was stopped, asked to submit to a drug and contraband scan by a VADOC K-9, and the K-9 altered authorities to Mazzariello’s body and inside her vehicle, the department stated. Mazzariello admitted to having drugs and turned over three packages that were previously concealed on her body, which had 90 Buprenorphine and Naloxone strips and 7 synthetic marijuana papers, VADOC reported. Those items amount to about approximately $75,000 in “prison value,...
Read More
Martinsville, VA doctor convicted of 467 federal drug charges
No Comments
News, Popular

Martinsville, VA doctor convicted of 467 federal drug charges

After 16 hours of deliberation, a jury in the U.S. District Court in Abingdon found Dr. Joel Smithers guilty of 467 counts of federal drug violations. Those charges stemmed from Smithers, a doctor based in Martinsville, illegally prescribing Schedule II drugs including oxymorphone, oxycodone, hydromorphone, and fentanyl. “Patients trust doctors to make decisions based on their healthcare needs, not a perversion of their own greed,” Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee said after the conviction. “For many years, this defendant betrayed the trust placed in him by his patients, his community, and the medical profession as a whole through his illegal distribution of thousands of medically unnecessary opioids. According to evidence presented at trial, after Smithers opened the ...
Read More