VIRGINIA: Police in Harford County seized two kilograms of heroin and arrested a Portsmouth, Va., on drug charges, during a traffic stop in Havre de Grace, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office said.
The investigation by the Harford County Task force that led to the arrest of Servonte Rhamone Smith, whose age wasn’t immediately available, is continuing in an attempt to locate other suspects in what detectives believe is a heroin trafficking organization that has been operating in Harford County, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.
Smith, who is charged with possession of heroin, possession with intent to distribute heroin and possession with intent to distribute large amounts of heroin, was being held at the Harford County Detention Center on $200,000 bond, as of Friday night.
According to the news release, detectives with the task force received information from a confidential source that a subject in the 400 block of Congress Avenue in Havre de Grace on Thursday was in possession of a large amount of a controlled dangerous substance.
Detectives began conducting surveillance in the area and observed the suspect in a vehicle with California registration plates. On several occasions, Detectives observed the suspect exit the vehicle and enter an apartment building on Congress Avenue, according to the release.
Detectives later observed the vehicle leave the location and travel to a local business and then return to the area. While on a trip back, to the 400 block of Congress Avenue, Detectives observed the suspect commit several traffic violations, according to release
Before detectives could conduct a traffic stop on the suspect vehicle, the suspect, later identified as Smith, parked and exited the vehicle in an expedient manor. Detectives made contact with Smith, on whom they could smell an overwhelming odor of burnt marijuana, according to the release, and he was placed under arrest.
Smith’s vehicle was searched, during detectives observed an open package on the passenger’s side back seat, according to the release. Inside the open package, detectives located what appeared to be two “bricks” or “kilos”– kilograms/2.2 pounds per kilogram – of a controlled dangerous substance.
The packages were two vacuum-sealed plastic bags wrapped with duct tape that detectives immediately recognized as being consistent with packaging utilized by drug traffickers, the news release states.
Smith, the suspected drugs and Smith’s vehicle were transported to the Havre de Grace Police Department to continue the investigation, according to the release.
Detectives later punctured both kilogram packages and observed inside each package a light brown powdery substance suspected to be heroin. A small portion of the substance was removed from each package and field tested. Both tests resulted in a positive reaction for heroin, the news release states.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, follow-up search and seizure warrants were executed at the apartment in the 400 block of Congress Avenue in Havre de Grace and at a hotel room in Aberdeen.
Currency, drug packaging materials, a small amount of marijuana and related documents were recovered during the execution of the search warrants, police said.
The Harford County Task Force, a multi-jurisdictional operation whose members are members of the Sheriff’s Office, Maryland State Police, Aberdeen Police Department, Bel Air Police Department, Havre de Grace Police Department, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Harford County States Attorney’s Office, investigate mid to upper level drug trafficking, homeland security and vice, according to the news release.
