Captain Bobby Martin of the Roanoke Rapids Police Department said Taurus Martin was charged with possession of cocaine following a two-month investigation.
He was jailed on $5,000 secured bond and has a September 5 court date.
Captain Martin said 3 grams of cocaine was seized from the residence. There was 1.5 grams of marijuana taken from a car at the residence along with two handguns and three clips.
In a statement Captain Martin said narcotics detectives J. Hardy and C. Babb conducted the investigation after receiving numerous complaints about the amount of traffic to and from the area.
Hardy said during execution of the search warrant Wednesday there had been complaints from a church across the street of gunfire and drug transactions occurring in the church parking lot.
Execution of the search warrant was done with the assistance criminal investigators and members of the patrol division’s A squad.
“Detectives Hardy and Babb took an aggressive approach and made it a daily objective to work this area and gather the intel needed,” Captain Martin said in the statement. “The narcotics unit conducted several community policing foot patrols in the area that assisted them with identifying several suspects that frequent the area.”
During the days leading up to the search warrant service, Captain Martin said the detectives seized 9 grams of fentanyl and 4.5 grams of heroin, a statement which backed what Hardy said Wednesday was the collection of more than $1,000 worth of drugs lying on the ground.
Said Captain Martin in the statement, the detectives “were able to speak with several neighbors in the area who are tired of the illegal activity going on” at a residence which was found to be a central hangout “for everyone” and “on multiple occasions detectives Babb and Hardy witnessed numerous subjects hanging out there who are known for selling drugs and have previous charges (or) convictions for selling illegal narcotics.”
Captain Martin said $3,494 was also seized from the residence.
Anyone with information on any illegal activity is encouraged to contact the police department at 252-533-2810 or Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.
