Two individuals, one documented as a gang member in Jefferson County, are accused of attempting to deliver crystal methamphetamine to a location in Stone County. Thirty-one-year-old Anthony Berends and 36-year-old Tiffany Jones, both of Redfield, were booked last week in the Stone County Detention Center on multiple felony counts. Jones has since been released on a bond of $30,000.
According to the probable cause affidavit, members of the Stone County Sheriff’s Office and the 16th Judicial District Drug Task Force were working drug interdiction and enforcement of driving while intoxicated laws on Tuesday. Just before 2 the next morning, a deputy and a special agent conducted a traffic stop of a pickup truck on suspicion of careless driving on Arkansas Highway 5 South near Bob Davis Mountain Road. The truck reportedly crossed the center line twice and the fog line.
Authorities claimed they approached the vehicle and smelled burnt marijuana and perfume. In addition, the deputy reportedly observed a shotgun shell in the truck bed. Jones was identified as the driver, and Berends was her passenger. Berends has a search waiver on file since he was on parole for drug and gun charges.
Berends and Jones reportedly stated they traveling to Mountain View to visit a friend, but they would travel back to Redfield without staying in the area. Officials say Jones struggled to think of the friend’s name. A search began of the vehicle. When authorities attempted to search Berends, he was reportedly hesitant to exit the vehicle and appeared to be under the influence of methamphetamine.
Other officers arrived to assist, and when they removed Berends from the truck, a methamphetamine smoking device allegedly rolled from his lap area to the floorboard. Authorities also reportedly searched Berends right pocket and located a small wrapped package containing a white crystalline substance weighing nearly 3 1/2 grams.
After Berends was taken into custody, Jones was asked to step out of the truck. The deputy reportedly located a loaded 9-millimeter handgun in the front seat. Also, an unzipped backpack fell off the back of the center console, and a burnt marijuana cigarette was located in the vehicle’s ashtray. The deputy reportedly spotted a Ziploc bag containing nearly 28 grams of crystal methamphetamine in the unzipped compartment.
Jones said her phone was being used for navigation to the address she and Berends were traveling to. After a search warrant was executed on the phone, it was determined they were allegedly delivering crystal methamphetamine to a location in Stone County. Authorities also learned Berends is listed as a “Gangster Disciple” with an extensive criminal history, and he’s been convicted of more than four prior felonies. Berends also has a history of failure to appear in court.
The evidence is being sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for analysis. The crystalline substances reportedly field tested positive for crystal methamphetamine. Authorities say the total amount of meth, including packaging, was nearly 31 grams. Its street value is approximately $3,000.
Berends and Jones each face counts of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance (crystal methamphetamine) with the purpose to deliver and simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms. The simultaneous possession charge is a Class Y felony, the most serious classification of crime in Arkansas not punishable by death.
Berends also faces charges of possession of a firearm by a certain person and possession of drug paraphernalia with the purpose to use crystal methamphetamine. He remains jailed on a bond of $50,000.
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