Deputies seize opium in drug bust
Posted on Saturday, April 22, 2006
BENTONVILLE — Benton County deputies discovered a rare find Thursday when they went to a Rogers home to arrest a man wanted on drug charges.
Undercover agents with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office Drug Task Force had previously made two marijuana purchases of approximately a quarter pound of marijuana from the suspect, Sheriff Keith Ferguson said.
Deputies with an arrest warrant went to 95 Champions Drive, where the suspect lives with his grandmother, the sheriff said.
The suspect, identified as Chadwick Clay, 18, was taken into custody in his bedroom.
Investigators found 32 grams of opium valued at $180 to $200 per quarter gram, Ferguson said at a news conference Friday. "It’s very rare for us,"Ferguson said of the opium find. "We haven’t run across it in my three years in office."
Ferguson considers Clay’s arrest a significant one because of the drug’s danger and its rarity in the county.
Investigators also found a quantity of psilocybin mushrooms and 18.3 ounces of marijuana, along with two scales and other drug paraphernalia, according to Ferguson. A rifle was also found in a closet, the sheriff said.
The home is in the gated Pinnacle Country Club. Ferguson said the arrest shows drugs can be found in any neighborhood. Clay was arrested on charges of delivery of a controlled substance (marijuana), two counts of possession with intent to deliver, possession with intent to deliver (opium), possession with intent to deliver (psilocybin), possession of drug paraphernalia, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms and unauthorized use of another’s personal property to facilitate certain crimes. He is being held in the Benton County Jail awaiting a bond hearing.
In an unrelated case, Benton County deputies also arrested Cesar Guzman, 22, of Springdale in connection with a narcotics investigation conducted by the BCSO.
Guzman had been the center of investigations by Bentonville police and the Sheriff’s Office. A warrant for Guzman’s arrest had been obtained.
Task force members of the BCSO spotted Guzman at McDonald’s at the corner of West Hudson Road and North Second Street in Rogers. Guzman was taken into custody, and his vehicle was later searched. Investigators found approximately 1 ounce of methamphetamine with a street value of $1,400 to $2,800. They also located more than $1,000 in cash, as well as scales and other drug paraphernalia. Guzman is also being held in the county jail awaiting a bond hearing.
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