Wednesday, June 10WATCHFUL EYE

Tag: drugs

Martinsville, VA doctor convicted of 467 federal drug charges
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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 ...
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CBP officers in Norfolk intercept fentanyl destined for Africa
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CBP officers in Norfolk intercept fentanyl destined for Africa

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Norfolk found over 4 ounces of fentanyl in a shipment destined for Africa, the Department reported. The drugs were found in a container with three older-model Toyota sedans listed on the manifest. CBP said the officers were conducting a routine inspection for export vehicles when they found a white powdery substance comingled with personal effects. The substance was tested using a handheld device and confirmed to be fentanyl, said CBP. In total, the drugs discovered amounted to just over 117 grams. “This may be a small amount of fentanyl, but it doesn’t take much of this very dangerous synthetic opioid to seriously injure or kill an unsuspecting CBP officer, seaport longshoreman, vessel seaman, or truck driver who may be accidentally ...
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Fentanyl treasure map leads to federal convictions for 2 Virginia men
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Fentanyl treasure map leads to federal convictions for 2 Virginia men

Two Hampton Roads men pled guilty and are scheduled for sentencing in a case involving a fentanyl treasure map. Ronald Devon Matthews, a 39-year-old from the Isle of Wight, acknowledged in court documents that he’s known as “MacGyver” and “Mac” and has been in custody since he was arrested in December 2021. He pled guilty to three federal counts of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition on Sept 29, 2022, court documents show. Matthews draws a map Matthews admitted, on May 2, 2023, while serving his 6-year and 9-month sentence for those charges at the Federal Correctional Complex in Petersburg, he drew a treasure map to fentanyl that he buried in the ground outside his home in Carrsville before he was arrested. In the statement of facts submitted in feder...
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Leesburg man stopped for public intoxication hit with drug & gun charges
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Leesburg man stopped for public intoxication hit with drug & gun charges

Appearing to be intoxicated landed a Leesburg man in jail facing several drug and gun charges. According to Leesburg Police Department, officers were in the 75 Plaza Street NE area at around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday conducting foot patrol when they encountered 28-year-old Nicholas T. Roach, who “appeared to be under the influence.” LPD said Roach was placed under arrest for public intoxication. When police searched him, they found “a large amount of cash and narcotics on his person.” Nicholas Roach of Leesburg (Photo: LPD) That led the officers to obtain a search warrant for Roach’s residence, also at 75 Plaza Street NE. According to LPD, during the residential search, officers found another ‘substantial amount of cash.” They also reportedly discovered more drugs, including su...
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Arrests, drug busts, cash seizures: Wythe Sheriff says expect more
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Arrests, drug busts, cash seizures: Wythe Sheriff says expect more

In an effort that’s over a month long and counting, Wythe County Sheriff’s Office said they have been targeting “large amounts of methamphetamine and firearms being distributed in Wythe County.” WCSO has been serving search warrants, making arrests, and has seized thousands of dollars along with thousands of grams of illegal drugs. West Monroe St. bust WCSO reported that on April 23, members of the Drug Task Force and Tactical Team executed a search warrant on a West Monroe St. home in Wytheville. In addition to a total of $5,986 gathered from the residence and a vehicle, the Sheriff’s Office said deputies seized: 341 grams of meth 14 grams of cocaine 223 grams of Psilocybin mushrooms Gary Edward McKinney Jr., 35, of Wytheville was arrested and charged with "vario...
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DEA report: Xylazine in Virginia & other ‘dangerous’ shifts in drug trends
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DEA report: Xylazine in Virginia & other ‘dangerous’ shifts in drug trends

The drug game is changing. Products are becoming more potent. Users often aren’t getting what they think they’re getting. And the fatal consequences are mounting, according to the 2024 drug threat assessment from the DEA. The report “highlights the dangerous shift from plant-based drugs to synthetic drugs” like fentanyl and methamphetamine, which are responsible for nearly all of the fatal drug overdoses and poisonings in the U.S. Drug suppliers Mexico’s Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have control over each segment of the drug trade and have effectively eliminated any competition in US markets, the DEA report states. It adds that cartel members have established a presence in every state. Virginia is one of the states where the cartel footprint is growing. (Photo: DEA) Fenta...
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Guns and +$3 million in drugs seized from Bedford, VA pop-ups
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Guns and +$3 million in drugs seized from Bedford, VA pop-ups

This week, Bedford County Sheriff Mike Miller made a public commitment to always keep the selling of drugs, including marijuana, as a top priority. That commitment comes after guns and millions of dollars worth of drugs were reportedly seized from two “illegal” pop-ups in the County. According to Sheriff Miller, on May 4, the James River Regional Task Force served a warrant in the 2800 block of Chestnut Fork Rd. and seized: 2 Firearms 77.5 lbs. of marijuana (Estimated street value of $316,260**) 101 lbs. of THC wax (Estimated street value of $1.8 million) 8.6 lbs. of psilocybin mushrooms (Estimated street value of $156,000) 1.5 pounds of THC oil (Estimated street value of $28,741) 35 grams of cocaine (Estimated street value of $3,640) along with numerous edibles an...
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Authorities warning deadly overdoses rising in northwest VA
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Authorities warning deadly overdoses rising in northwest VA

The Northwest Regional Drug & Gang Task Force is sounding the alarm on a spike of overdoses and overdose deaths in the northwestern corner of Virginia in recent weeks. And, it appears fentanyl is the suspected culprit. “The past few weeks have made the threat we face from fentanyl apparent,” said Chief Kahle Magalis with the Front Royal Police Department. “We want to caution the public and make them aware of exactly how lethal fentanyl can be." According to the Task Force, between Feb. 10 and Feb. 24, there have been 11 overdoses with five leading to death. That compares to only one death and five total overdoses from the beginning of the year until Feb. 10. Meanwhile, as overdoses and drug fatalities are rising, the Task Force is reportedly catching a lot more fentanyl in its...
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Feds snag 88 lbs. of hash at Dulles amid focus on marijuana shipments
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Feds snag 88 lbs. of hash at Dulles amid focus on marijuana shipments

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) say they’ve uncovered “an increasing trend” of U.S. marijuana growers and retailers shipping products to Europe and Africa where high-quality weed earns them several times the U.S. price. Because of that, CBP is ramping up efforts to intercept those shipments. And it was “during one of these outbound inspections targeted on seizing marijuana,” that CBP officers found nearly 88 pounds of hashish in checked bags at Dulles, the agency reported. On Monday, officers retrieved 28 vacuum-sealed bags of brown bricks in three suitcases that were being loaded onto a flight to Sao Paulo, Brazil. The material field tested as positive for hashish, CBP reported. The traveler associated with those bags was Johnathan Edward Perez, a California resident, an...
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72 pounds of weed found at Dulles Airport, 2 men arrested
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72 pounds of weed found at Dulles Airport, 2 men arrested

A large marijuana shipment that was reportedly destined for Paris won’t be arriving because authorities seized the 68 bags of vacuum-sealed buds at Dulles International Airport and arrested the men accused of transporting it. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reported that the large bags of weed, which weighed over 72 pounds, were found in three checked suitcases that were being loaded onto a plane headed to Keflavik, Iceland. Las Vegas residents Kaliq Talib McCallister, 33, and Christian Tyler Knight, 28, were identified as the travelers responsible for those suitcases. According to CBP, their plan was to pass through Iceland to get Paris. The material in the vacuum-sealed bags was field-tested, and the results were positive for marijuana, CBP reported. The 72 pounds of marijuana...
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