Fair / 64° F
Two vehicles seized in drug arrests
Published 9:10pm Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Two vehicles and a half-ounce of crack cocaine were confiscated Dec. 9 when two men were arrested for crack cocaine-related charges.
The incidents themselves were unrelated, though Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force Investigator Chris Martin said they occurred within an hour or so of each other.
James Michael Crayton, 39, of Jackson’s Gap, was spotted on U.S. Hwy. 280, Martin said, and was immediately pulled over.
“Crayton has been under investigation for about four months now regarding the sale of illegal narcotics,” Martin said. “We had acquired four warrants for his arrest.”
Crayton was charged with three counts of distribution of a controlled substance and one count of criminal conspiracy to commit controlled substance crime. Due to the fact that Crayton was an Alabama probationer at the time, his 1990 Ford F-150 was seized.
A short time later, Martin said he received a call from New Site Police Chief John McKelvey. McKelvey had pulled over Larry Gene Wyckoff, 39, of Alexander City, and was writing him a traffic violation when he called Martin to assist.
Martin said that Wyckoff had a half ounce of crack cocaine in his vehicle in plain sight when he as pulled over in New Site on Highway 22.
Wyckoff was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Wyckoff was currently out on bond pending other distribution charges, Martin said, and his $15,000 bond was revoked in addition to seizing the 1994 Lexus ES300 he was driving.
Martin said the street value of the crack seized was around $400.
“Meth is becoming more popular, but we still see a fair amount of crack cocaine,” Maritn said.
Crack cocaine, Martin explained, can be more profitable for dealers as it contained only 1 part cocaine to three parts of baking soda. Despite containing less cocaine, Martin said the high from crack has a faster onset.
“When you take a hit of crack, it goes straight into your bloodstream through your lungs,” Martin said. “The effect is almost immediate.”
The investigation was the joint effort of the investigators with the Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, New Site Police Department, Dadeville Police Department, Alexander City Housing Authority and Alexander City Police Department.
