Nearly 12 pounds of marijuana was seized by Dare County Narcotics Task Force officers Thursday. The weed, they say was being mailed to 25-year-old Leonard Wood, who they arrested in Nags Head. Wood is from Prince Frederick, Maryland. Officers say the package was sent from a grower in California.
Lt. Kevin Duprey, the lieutenant in charge of the task force, says each one of the air compressed one-pound bags of marijuana, is worth $3,000-$5,000. The entire box of weed, he says, is worth upwards of $55,000.
"That’s wonderful for us because we're getting it off the streets of Dare County," Lt. Duprey says.
A wonderful thing that Duprey says has become all too common for the county's narcotics unit, that averages about 3 drug arrests a week.
"We’ve heard it more than once that certain people won't go across the bridge from Currituck into Dare County because of the arrests that are being made," Duprey says.
The past two and half weeks have proven to be especially fruitful. Officers made 10 arrests, many on charges that Nags Head Police Chief Kevin Brinkley says will keep offenders behind bars for a while.
"We’re talking about more of your trafficking level cases, like the marijuana case today," Brinkley says.
There are only six officers on the task force, which was formed about three years ago.They have help from a few state agencies, but Duprey says they have a lot of ground to cover.
"Heroine is still really big at this point, prescription medication is still being abused and sold, of course marijuana," he says.
Drugs, Duprey says, that will only get off the streets with the public's help.
"It’s just going to take a community to tackle this and hopefully we'll win the battle," Lt. Duprey says.
If you have any information for deputies, call the Dare County Sheriff's Office at (252)475-598.
