OAKLEY – Magoffin County Sheriff Department’s new K-9 unit, Nitra, uncovered drugs during a traffic stop, leading to drug trafficking charges.
According to the arrest citation, on February 7, Magoffin County Sheriff Department Deputy E. Salyer was conducting a traffic stop on Oakley Creek Road, when he started noticing that the driver had exited the vehicle and appeared to be trying to walk to a nearby residence.
Daniel Jackson, 56, of Oakley Creek Road, in Magoffin, reportedly told police he didn’t see the officer there and was just trying to get home. While talking to police, Jackson would not make direct eye contact with the Deputy Salyer, who placed him under arrest for driving on a DUI suspended operator’s license. When asked, Jackson reportedly told police nothing was in the vehicle, according to the arrest citation.
Deputy Salyer asked Deputy D. Watson to deploy his K-9 for a free air sniff. They recently obtained K-9 unit Nitra and she and Watson have been trained together, so Watson advised that on his first pass around she showed alert behavior around the driver’s side door, and this behavior include bracketing from the front fender to the back of the cab at least three times and taking large, deep breaths of air. She attempted to go under the vehicle, which Is not a trained response, but was a behavior of being in the air of a trained odor, attempting to locate it. She continued to sniff around, and, on her second pass, she locked up on the driver’s door seam and went into a final response, according to the citation.
With the K-9’s alert indicating probable cause for a search, police searched the vehicle, finding a black WAHL hair clipper container and a large Maglite flashlight hidden within the dash. Approximately 82.5 grams of a white, crystal rock-like substance believed to be methamphetamine was found in the flashlight. The hair clipper case also contained 19.9 grams of what is believed to be methamphetamine, a set of digital scales with white residue on them, and approximately 8.3 grams of a green, leafy substance believed to be marijuana, as well as several used syringes and one having what appeared to be blood inside of it.
Police also located a small bag of a brown, powder-like substance, that had been shoved down in between the two rear seats of the police cruiser Jackson had been placed in during the search.
Jackson was taken to the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center and charged with first-degree, first offense, trafficking in a controlled substance (greater than or equal to two grams of methamphetamine); trafficking in marijuana (less than 8 oz.), first offense; buying or possessing drug paraphernalia; and trafficking in a controlled substance, first offense (heroin).
Jackson is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on February 19 at 9:15 a.m. at the Magoffin County Justice Center. At press time, he remains at the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.
Editor’s Note: The indictment or charge of a person by a grand jury or otherwise is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
