Drug trafficker arrested outside of Smokies

In January of this year, a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement effort was launched to identify and prosecute drug traffickers operating in and around the Cherokee Indian Reservation and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Today's National Park Service Digest is reporting that on June 3rd, an NPS agent, along with an agent from the ATF, saw a suspected drug trafficker traveling through the park. The agents followed the motorcycle from the park to a nearby barn on the Cherokee Indian Reservation, where they contacted the operator and found 30 pounds of marijuana in the bike’s saddlebags. The man was arrested by the NPS agent and charged with one count of trafficking marijuana. He was indicted for possession and conspiracy to sell and deliver marijuana. As part of the indictment, the government filed a notice of forfeiture for his 2004 Harley Davidson and a personal monetary judgment in the amount of $300,000, representing proceeds that he obtained throughout the course of the conspiracy.

Although the report doesn't specifically mention it, is it possible that the contraband was actually grown inside the park?


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com