ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — A Buncombe County traffic stop last week led to multiple drug trafficking charges after authorities seized large quantities of illegal narcotics, officials said.
On Oct. 22, members of the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Illegal Gun Reduction and Narcotics Task Force (IGRANT) stopped a vehicle on Interstate 40 near Candler. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Asheville Post assisted in the investigation.
Jason Andrew Jenkins, of Pendleton, South Carolina, was found in possession of trafficking amounts of fentanyl and crack cocaine, along with marijuana, drug paraphernalia and more than $5,000 in cash. Investigators also seized 263.4 grams of mannitol, a substance commonly used as a cutting agent for illegal drugs.
Seized items included:
- 107.7 grams of fentanyl
- 80.6 grams of crack cocaine
- 6.6 grams of marijuana
- 263.4 grams of mannitol
- $5,367.25 in U.S. currency
Jenkins faces multiple charges, including trafficking in opium/heroin (fentanyl) by possession and transportation, trafficking in cocaine by possession and transportation, maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for controlled substances, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Buncombe County Sheriff Quentin Miller said the seizure “potentially saved thousands of lives” and emphasized the importance of interagency cooperation.
“The totality of the items seized represents the potential distribution of more than 4,500 street dosage units of lethal substances,” BCSO District 2 Captain Chris Stockton said in a news release. “Investigations and subsequent seizures like this undoubtedly save the lives of community members and incumbered the operation of those intending to capitalize on those in the throes of addiction.”