Wewa bust yields big pot, cocaine haul
A search warranted executed Thursday on an Armstrong Road home in Wewahitchka yielded a large stash of pot in various forms, as well as 95 grams of cocaine.
A news release issued Friday from the office of Gulf County Sheriff Mike Harrison said investigators from the sheriff’s office, and members of the members of the North Star Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task searched the home of Aaron Dakota Beatty, 35, and Lazaylahn Betty Sue Granier, 20, in the 100 block of Armstrong Road.
The release said the search, based on probable cause by investigators to believe that drugs were being sold at the residence, located approximately 95 grams of cocaine and 17 pounds of marijuana.
The search also yielded over 400 THC pens containing 91 percent THC, nearly 2,000 grams of THC extract and 203 pieces of edible marijuana candies. THC, an abbreviation for tetrahydrocannabinol, is a crystalline compound that is the main active ingredient of cannabis.
The sheriff’s office estimated the total street value of the illegal drugs at nearly $86,500. The release said several items of drug paraphernalia found in the search included digital scales, pipes, and bongs. Investigators also seized $24,400 in cash.
Beatty and Granier were arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and operating a nuisance house. Both were transported to the Gulf County Detention Facility.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.