Traffic stop leads to arrest of man on drug charges

Jeffrey Paul Young - Submitted photo
Jeffrey Paul Young - Submitted photo

A routine traffic stop led to the arrest Thursday evening of a local man after he allegedly admitted to having "a lot of drugs" and a large amount of meth was reportedly found in his possession.

Jeffrey Paul Young, 53, who lists a Millcreek Road address, was taken into custody shortly after 6 p.m. and charged with possession of meth with purpose to deliver, punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and possession of drug paraphernalia, punishable by up to six years in prison.

Young, who was also cited for driving on a suspended driver's license, having no insurance, not wearing a seat belt, driving left of center, and driving a vehicle without tags, was being held on a $12,000 bond and was set to appear Friday in Garland County District Court.

Young was previously convicted on Feb. 25, 2019, in Garland County of possession of a controlled substance, meth, and possession of drug paraphernalia and sentenced to one year in prison.

According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly before 6 p.m. Thursday, Arkansas State Police Trooper Jackson Dorman was southbound on Gorge Road behind a red Chevrolet Cobalt and a check of the license plate showed there was no insurance attached to the registration.

As they both continued south, he reportedly saw the Cobalt cross the centerline, so he activated his lights and the vehicle stopped in the parking lot of Centerfold, 1396 E. Grand Ave. The driver, identified as Young, reportedly told Dorman he did not have a driver's license or insurance for the car, but he did have an ID.

While talking with Young and his male passenger, Dorman said he saw a black box with the corner of a plastic baggie sticking out of it on the driver's side floorboard, directly under Young. When he asked if he could see what was in it, Young allegedly said, "There are a lot of drugs in it."

With that information, Dorman said he had Young and the passenger exit the vehicle and detained them while he searched the vehicle. He opened the black box and reportedly found one plastic baggie with 64.8 grams, or over 2 ounces, of what later tested positive for meth and two smaller baggies with a total of 10.8 grams of meth.

In the trunk, he reportedly found a camouflage shower bag containing multiple baggies with suspected meth residue, a glass pipe with residue and an empty syringe. He noted the bags of meth were "packaged and labeled in a manner consistent with distribution." There were also several empty bags "to further process the portions of meth for distribution."

After finding the drugs, Dorman contacted the 18th Judicial District East Drug Task Force who took possession of the drugs and placed a hold on Young's vehicle. The passenger was later released without charges.

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