Synthetic pot leads to 2 arrests

photo Jackson County Sheriff's Office displays seized suspected synthetic cannabinoid and drug paraphernalia.
photo Ralph Dwayne Currie
photo Selina Johnson Currie

When a 41-year-old man was suspected of smuggling the equivalent of 9,071 cigars of synthetic marijuana into Jackson County two years ago, police weren't armed with the technology that would have allowed them to arrest him.

They are now.

It was 2011 when Jackson County Sheriff's Office detectives said they caught Ralph Currie with 20 pounds of suspected contraband in a home in Bryant, Ala. -- the largest known shipment in the county.

But Currie couldn't be charged because synthetic drugs only recently had been outlawed, and police didn't have the technology to test the drugs at the house, Chief Deputy Rocky Harnen said.

Soon after, Currie, of Henegar, Ala., left the county, but investigators learned he was back in the area and have been monitoring his activity.

On Wednesday, police stopped Currie, who was with 27-year-old Selina Currie, on Highway 71 in Flat Rock and found synthetic marijuana in his car, Sheriff Chuck Phillips said in a news release.

Officers now carry drug kits so they can test the product on site and make an arrest if necessary, Harnen said.

The couple were arrested on multiple drug charges, including unlawful possession of synthetic cannabinoids and unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance. Phillips said Ralph Currie also was arrested on outstanding felony warrants from 2011.

Police then got a search warrant for the Curries' business, an old, run-down mechanical car wash in the Fackler community, and found another pound of synthetic pot, Harnen said. Police suspect that the business was only a front for the drug operation.

Inside the building, authorities found the tools used to make drugs, Harnen said.

Contact staff writer Joy Lukachick at jlukachick@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.

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