Trooper uncovers cigarette, moonshine cache on I-95

By Lance Martin/Herald Senior Staff Writer
Published/Last Modified on Saturday, March 20, 2004 3:43 PM CST

ROANOKE RAPIDS - A man with dual addresses was jailed Thursday morning after a N.C. Highway Patrol trooper found cigarettes, moonshine and cocaine in the vehicle he was driving.
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State Alcohol Law Enforcement Agent Brent Massey said Trooper C.E. Carroll, who could not be reached for comment, was on routine patrol on Interstate 95 when he saw a 1999 Lincoln Navigator being driven aggressively and erratically.

Carroll stopped the vehicle around 10:45 a.m. at the 170 milemarker of the northbound lane and asked Leroy Butler, 65, for consent to search the vehicle.

The trooper found 4 grams of powdered cocaine, $12,000 worth of cigarettes and 28 gallons of moonshine.

Massey, who assisted in the arrest, said Butler had dual addresses, one for Fayetteville and one for New Jersey. He said Butler told them he planned to sell the cigarettes, packaged in cartons and stored in large plastic bags, on a Web site.

Massey charged him with transporting non-tax paid alcohol, possession of non-tax paid alcohol for sale and possession of non-tax paid alcohol. Carroll gave Butler a written warning for following too close and charged him with felony possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of lottery tickets.

Butler was jailed on $2,500 bond for Massey's charges and $12,000 bond for Carroll's charges.

Massey said the find was one of the largest in Halifax County in the last 10 years.

The officers confiscated $1,241 in cash and impounded the Navigator.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco and Firearms has been called in to investigate the cigarettes. The ATF will investigate to determine whether the cigarettes are non-tax paid, stolen or counterfeit, Massey said.

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