IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — A traffic stop on Interstate 77 led to the largest seizure of Oxycontin pills in the history of the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Darren Campbell said.
Deputies with the Interstate Criminal Enforcement (ICE) team stopped two men driving on I-77 last week for traffic violations and asked to see their vehicle registration.
They said when Anthony Prettyman took the paperwork out of the glovebox, deputies noticed a bag of marijuana which led to a search of the SUV.
Authorities discovered a “false bottom” paint can and inside there were 5,330 Oxycontin pills. They also found a half-ounce of marijuana inside a Nike shoebox.
"I would like to say I'm surprised kind of a little by that number, but know the way pills are taken and sold here in our area, it doesn't surprise me," Iredell County Sheriff's Office Capt. Bill Hamby.
Deputies arrested Prettyman and Cory Laurenson, both from New York, and charged them with felony trafficking of a schedule II drug by possession and felony maintaining a vehicle for transport of controlled substance. The two suspects were given a $2 million bond.
(Anthony Prettyman) (Cory Laurenson)
Investigators seized the 2009 Land Rover the men were driving and more than $2,000 in cash. The drugs are valued at around $165,000.
Iredell County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Investigators are working with Special Agents of the Department of Homeland Security in Charlotte and detectives in New York to determine how they got the Oxycontin and where they were taking the pills.
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