While the rock-like substance a Carter County woman was selling as meth was not a real drug, the charge she now faces certainly is real.
On Tuesday evening, officers of the Elizabethton Police Department arrested Dreama Kelley Barnett, 20, of 135 Cedar Grove Road, Johnson City, and charged her with sale of a counterfeit controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Around 7:40 p.m. Sunday, officers of the Police Department responded to the parking lot of Auto Zone on West Elk Avenue after a tip came in regarding three people in a Geo Metro who were engaged in drug activity. When officers arrived on the scene they located three individuals — two males and a female — and began speaking with them.
EPD Capt. Anthony Buck said he spoke with the female, who he identified as Barnett, and asked her if she had any drugs in her possession.
“(Barnett) stated she had smoked marijuana earlier, but it was all gone,” Buck said, adding he then asked if she had anything associated with drugs with her. “Barnett stated she has a ‘pot pipe’ in her purse in the car she had been riding in.”
Buck said Barnett retrieved her purse from the car and handed him the pipe, which he said had burnt residue in it. The officer then asked Barnett for permission to search her purse, which he said she granted.
“(I) located two cigarette cellophane wrappers which contained an unknown rock-like substance,” Buck said. “(Barnett) stated it was only rock salt. (She) stated she sells the substance as ‘met’ so she can purchase a hotel room. (She) stated she picked it up on the side of the road and stated she had a big bag of the salt in the car.”
Buck said one of the other officers located the bag of salt in the car and retrieved it. Because of the way the items were bagged and Barnett’s statement she sold the rock-like substance as methamphetamine, Buck arrested her and charged her with sale of a counterfeit controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Barnett appeared in Carter County General Sessions Court on Wednesday, where she was arraigned on the charges. Judge Keith Bowers Jr. set her bond at $1,000 and appointed the Public Defender’s office to represent her. Barnett is scheduled to return to court on March 29.