Pinson, Grayson Valley men among others arrested in JeffCo Sheriff drug raids
Five were arrested and charged with drug offenses
From left to right: Chandler Logan Nichols, Gabriel Lopez Mathews and Darius Brown. Photo from the Jefferson County Jail.
According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, a series of raids have yielded several arrests from different areas of the county along with multiple drugs and firearms. Among the arrests were two men from Pinson and Grayson Valley.
“Four unrelated significant arrests have been made in recent weeks that resulted in the seizure of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, opioids, marijuana, firearms, and homemade suppressors. A stolen truck was also recovered,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Chandler Logan Nichols, 23, and Gabriel Lopez Mathews, 24, of Pinson, were arrested in Center Point on May 22. According to the sheriff’s office, investigators were conducting surveillance on a suspected drug trafficker in the area by the time two suspicious men were seen in a vehicle. Coordinating with patrol units, investigators stopped the vehicle.
A search yielded six pounds of marijuana and 100 tablets of hydrocodone. Both were arrested and charged with trafficking marijuana and hydrocodone.
On May 31, narcotics investigators arrived at the home of Darius Brown, 29, in Grayson Valley with a warrant charging him with unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Afterwards, investigators searched the home and found 51 grams of marijuana and 44 vials of THC, which the sheriff’s office said was “the active component of marijuana for use in vape devices.”
Brown was also charged with unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.
In Hueytown, a suspected heroin dealer was stopped by narcotics investigators on May 21. The suspect, identified as Johnny Lee Smith, 35, was arrested after a plastic bag of heroin was found during a search of his car. Investigators obtained a search warrant of his home where deputies found 14 other bags of heroin, as well as two handguns, a 12-gauge shotgun, and two illegal homemade suppressors.
Deputies also found two rifles. One had been reported stolen and the other was illegally altered, said to the sheriff’s office. Smith was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. Federal firearms charges are pending.
On June 6, Erik Malone, 34, of Birmingham was arrested and charged with multiple drug offenses, including stolen property.
“A check of the vehicle identification number revealed that it had been reported as stolen,” the sheriff’s office stated. “A switched tag on the vehicle was registered to an address on Warrior Road in Birmingham. Deputies went to the address, but the truck was not there. Information about the vehicle and the tag was forwarded to the Metro Area Crime Center.”
“Investigators in the MACC developed a second address associated with the switched tag. This address was along Oprto-Madrid Boulevard. MACC investigators in an unmarked car went to this address and located the vehicle in the driveway. They maintained surveillance on the truck while marked patrol units drove to the house.”
Malone was found in the driver’s seat and taken into custody. Deputies searched the truck and found eight pounds of marijuana, 24 brownies containing marijuana, a handgun, a shotgun, 163 tablets of xanax, 108 tablets of hydrocodone, 13 grams of cocaine, six grams of methamphetamine, 86 tablets of oxycontin, prescription cough syrup, and 42 suboxone strips.
Malone was charged with trafficking opioids, trafficking marijuana, unlawful possession of cocaine, unlawful possession of methamphetamine, receiving stolen property and unlawful possession of a controlled substance. The sheriff’s office reported that federal charges will be sought for a felon in possession of a firearm.
