A man who told police he regularly delivers synthetic drugs to merchants in four states was arrested after a search of his van revealed some 2,700 containers of synthetic marijuana, which may be a record amount for Gate City, Va., authorities said.
Jeffery A. Stapleton, of Kingsport, was charged with felony possession of synthetic narcotics, said Gate City Police Chief Kim Birchfield.
“Officers conducted a traffic stop … an equipment violation was the initial reason for the stop,” he said.
But then, the officer noticed what he thought was a gun in the front seat of the 2005 white Chevy van Stapleton drove, and searched the vehicle.
The gun turned out to be a toy, Birchfield said, but what officers later found was the real deal, although synthetic – nearly 3,000 containers of synthetic drugs, which ranged from a gram to “quite more” than a gram. A gram of synthetic marijuana is worth about $10, Birchfield said. In addition, officers seized $13,640 in cash, and the van.
Birchfield said his officers realize that State Route 23 is a major drug traffic route and try to keep an eye out for unusual traffic. But, he said, that’s the most that they’ve uncovered in one traffic stop in his memory.
“It was a large amount,” Birchfield said. “This gentleman called himself the middleman. He said he delivered in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia to the convenience stores and supplied those items. He said that was his normal route.”
Birchfield said part of the problem is that although cities in Tennessee have recently passed bans on synthetic drugs in their localities, Tennessee as a whole still is less strict than Virginia.
“Until Tennessee gets on board with Virginia and really puts some bite into the law to make it a felony to possess [synthetic drugs], it’s going to continue,” he said of the trafficking.
Birchfield said Stapleton’s Wednesday arrest was the second in four days on charges related to synthetic drugs. He said synthetic drugs are a problem not only along the highway, where traffickers travel, but also throughout Southwest Virginia.
“It just shows you how much is out there,” he said. “[People] need to look at this, and see what they’re putting in their system – it’ll kill ya. It says right there on the packet, ‘not for human consumption.’”
arobinson@bristolnews.com
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