Brandon Pickens
Staff
Reports
At 6 p.m. Saturday, March 1 Clay County Sheriff’s Lt. Tyler Faggard, DEA Task Force Officer, was working on a highway interdiction operation similar to the many that have previously been reported. During this operation Faggard stopped a blue KIA at the Shooting Creek Market on US Hwy 64 East in Hayesville. The driver of the KIA was identified as Breslin Drake Allen, 29, of Murphy. The sole passenger in the front seat was identified as Brandon Michael Pickens, 40, of Asheville, N.C, according to Sheriff Mark Buchanan.
After contacting the occupants of the KIA, Faggard immediately noted the strong odor of marijuana. Faggard also noted Pickens’ pants to have been pulled down to his knees, which was indicative of a person attempting to hide illegal drugs. Pickens was removed from the KIA and detained without incident. Clay County Investigators Nick Queen and Steven Smith as well as Sgt. Kyle Lickteig quickly arrived at the scene to assist Faggard.
A probable cause search of the KIA yielded a black bag containing a large amount of controlled substances from the passenger floorboard where Pickens had been sitting. A Cashapp card with the name Brandon Pickens was found within the black bag. Due to the physical location that the black bag was found and the Cashapp card with Pickens’ name, the evidence that these items belonged to Pickens was overwhelming. As a result of this evidence Allen was not arrested. Pickens, however, was arrested and transported to the Clay County Detention Center.
A thorough search and inventory of the contents of the black bag yielded the following substances that field tested positive as:
• Nine clear baggies containing approximately 504 grams of fentanyl.
• Two clear baggies containing approximately 54 grams of cocaine.
• Two clear baggies containing approximately 17 grams of methamphetamine.
• One clear baggy containing approximately 13 grams of cathinone.
Pickens was charged with the following and given a $2,000,000 secured bond:
• Trafficking in opium (fentanyl) or heroin by possession.
• Trafficking in opium (fentanyl) or heroin by transportation.
• Trafficking in opium (fentanyl) or heroin by manufacturing.
• Trafficking in cocaine by possession.
• Trafficking in cocaine by transportation.
• Trafficking in cocaine by manufacturing.
• Felony maintaining a vehicle for drugs.
• Felony possession of a schedule I controlled substance (cathinone).
• Possession with intent to sell a schedule I controlled substance.
• Possession with intent to sell methamphetamine.
• Possession with intent to manufacture methamphetamine.
• Possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine.
The significance of any charge of “trafficking” of a controlled substance is that a guilty verdict in the State of North Carolina carries mandatory prison sentences. The more dangerous a drug is, the less there needs to be present for a person to be charged with trafficking. For trafficking charges there are three levels of seriousness depending on the amount of drugs present. For cocaine and methamphetamine these levels are from 28 grams to 200 grams, 200 grams to 400 grams and 400 grams or more.
For fentanyl, the trafficking levels are from 4 grams to 14 grams, from 14 grams to 28 grams and 28 grams or more. To put this in perspective and to illustrate just how dangerous North Carolina considers fentanyl to be, 4 grams of fentanyl in the corner of a clear baggy is just a little bigger than a marble. The fentanyl seized during this investigation totaled 504 grams or 1.11 pounds, which is many times the amount needed to reach the highest level of trafficking in fentanyl.
This was a very significant arrest that could well have saved many lives from the fentanyl overdoses that have been plaguing our country for several years. To my knowledge, this is the largest seizure of an opium/heroin class drug in the history of Clay County. Clay County’s aggressive highway drug interdiction efforts continue to produce significant results in dampening the drug trade in and around Clay County.