CHARLES TOWN: The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office seized more than $34,000 in heroin during a traffic stop that led to the arrest of two Berkeley County men.
Raymond Sydney Wallace, 51, of Yukon Drive, Falling Waters, W.Va., and Jared Michael Belanger, 35, of Edsal Avenue, Martinsburg, were both arraigned on single counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance (heroin) and conspiracy, according to Jefferson County Magistrate Court records.
Both men were being held in Eastern Regional Jail Monday on $250,000 bonds, according to court and jail records.
The heroin that was seized weighed 171.4 grams and had a street value of $34,200, Sheriff’s Office Deputy Cpl. D.C. Tabler said in a complaint against the defendants.
Packaged in three plastic bags, the heroin was found in a black toboggan beneath the passenger seat of the tan, 2003 pickup truck in which the defendants were traveling, according to court records.
Tabler said in his complaint that he stopped the vehicle, which displayed New Hampshire registration, along W.Va. 9 just west of Currie Road after both passenger side tires of the truck crossed the white fog line, records said.
The sheriff’s deputy said Wallace, who was driving the vehicle, said he probably did cross the fog line because he was pointing out landmarks to Belanger, who is not from the area, records said.
Upon being deployed, K-9 Veit, which accompanies Tabler on patrol, subsequently “alerted” for the presence of narcotics on the seams of the front passenger and driver doors, record said.
After the drugs were found, the deputy said Balenger said “someone definitely planted the narcotics because he had no knowledge of their presence,” records said.
In addition to the drugs, Tabler said he also seized $51 from Wallace, records said.
Tabler said he was traveling west on W.Va. 9 at 4:47 p.m., when he began to follow the pickup at the intersection of Oak Lee Drive in Ranson, W.Va., records said.
