A drug investigation that started at Lexington Market led to a raid last night in Northeast Baltimore that netted 85 pounds of suspected marijuana and the seizure of more than $2,100 in cash, police said.The raid occurred at about 5 p.m. in the 1600 block of Waverly Way, located within the Renaissance Club apartments. Det. Kevin Brown, a city police spokesman, said David Andrews, 48, and Dwayne Jackson, 51, are believed to have been supplying dealers at the downtown market.
Jackson was being held on $2 million bond, while Andrews was held on $500,000 bond, according to court records. Those are high bails - I couldn't find any prior arrest history for either man in the city.
Lexington Market was recently the focus of a CNN report about prescription drugs. The footage of the bust isn't great, but the DEA apparently allowed the reporter to do an on-camera interview with a man who had been taken into custody. The report concludes that prescription drug sales at the market are "booming."
And who could forget the Utz potato chip stall owner accused of selling guns to gang members?
I've got a hankering for a Faidley's crab cake just writing about the market...
Speaking of marijuana: prosecutors filed documents in federal court seeking to seize a Woodstock, Md. home after police discovered 10 pounds of marijuana and 660 marijuana plants in a kennel on the property of Roger Alan Smith at 10820 Furman Lane, near Marriottsville Road. The Carroll County drug task force had received a tip in June that Smith was growing large amounts of marijuana, and police used a thermal scan to detect an unusually large amount of heat coming from an area of the kennel, court records show. It does not appear Smith has yet been charged in connection with the raid.
Baltimore Crime Beat/by Peter Hermann
