CC officers seize drugs, cash

MIKE WEST
Courier Editor

A big stack of cash and a wide assortment of illegal drugs were seized by the Cannon County Sheriff's Department during two raids.

Investigator Chris Brown, was contacted by Deputy Derrick Morrison about marijuana found during the execution of an arrest warrant on Ricky Darrell Arnold at an address on Jim Cummings Highway.

"He (Deputy Morrison) advised that Ricky Darrell Arnold was in possession of $3,060 in cash and there was a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana found on the coffee table along with a set of scales. Chelsea Nichole Smith was in the house with Arnold as well, having $225 in cash on her. Both amounts were seized at the time and both were placed under arrest," Brown said.

When Arnold and Smith refused to allow the Sheriff's Department to search the rest of the home, Brown obtained a search warrant.

"There were digital scales under the couch and cigarillos in the living room. There were also multiple baggies and a large amount of a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana found inside of a Home Depot bucket in the middle bedroom closet. Total weight on this was approximately 428 grams or .96 pounds," Brown said.

A search of the vehicles parked at the home followed. In a black VW Beetle two marijuana cigarettes were discovered in a L&M cigarette pack, along with a ledger book and a grinder.

"In the Blue Dodge Ram sitting next to the VW there was a priority mail box in-the floorboard with no markings that contained two jars of a jelly/jam type substance packed with paper towels and a large sum of cash rubber banded together in the bottom of the box. Seven bundles contained a total of $1,000 each and one bundle had $1,100 for a total of $8,100," Brown reported.

Officers then executed a second search warrant on property owned by Arnold on Bullpen Road.

At the rear of this house, a medium-sized box was discovered with a large amount of packing material covered in a green leafy substance believed to be marijuana, with a small amount left at the bottom of the box. This amount weighed approximately 56 grams (3.5 ounces), Brown said.

There was also a digital scale found inside of a desk drawer within 10 feet of where the box was found. Another digital scale of the same type was found in a red Dodge Ram pickup on the property behind Arnold's dump truck.

"Upon entry into the house there was a glass pipe with residue, cigarillos, and a clear plastic container with a green lid that contained a small amount of a crystal substance identified through a test kit as methamphetamine found in the dining room area," Brown said.

Inside of the freezer at the home there was a baggie containing approximately 5 grams of a green leafy substance identified as marijuana and a pill bottle with no label containing multiple broken Xanax bars.

"Inside the kitchen cabinet there were more vacuum seal bags, another baggie with pills identified as Promethazine, a drug not scheduled but available as prescription only and a blue dropper tube containing a liquid believed to be extracted THC 'honey' oil," he said.

All items were seized and taken as evidence.

Both Ricky Darrell Arnold and Chelsea Nichole Smith were charged with two counts of Manufacture, Sale, or Delivery of Schedule IV, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, simple possession of Schedule IV, possession of a legend drug and possession of methamphetamine. Their court dates were set for May 2 in General Sessions Court.