By Lindsay Melvin
The Commercial Appeal
SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — In less than a week, Shelby County sheriff’s deputies have made two drug busts and seized more than $2 million worth of marijuana.
“We hit the mother lode last week,” said Sheriff Mark Luttrell.
Acting on a tip that the Eclipse clothing store in Hickory Hill was really a drug front, on Saturday the Sheriff’s Office Street Crimes Bureau arrested six people and confiscated more than 1,200 pounds of marijuana.
The sheriff’s lucky streak began Thursday when a deputy pulled over a rental truck driver he suspected was DUI and found the week’s first 1,000 pounds of pot, worth $1 million on the street.
“There is a lot of drugs and clearly marijuana moving through this area,” Luttrell said. “We’ve always known this area is a crossroads for drug trafficking.”
On Saturday, the Eclipse clothing shop at 5843 Winchester, west of Hickory Hill Road, was under surveillance when deputies saw a man run out of the store and jump into a Ford pickup, which they tailed to Club Eclipse at 4532 Getwell. Both businesses have the same owner.
The sheriff’s narcotics officers watched a tractor-trailer pull into the nightclub parking lot where large boxes were transferred to the pickup and a van.
When deputies stopped the vehicles on Shelby Drive east of Tulane they found 1,200 pounds of marijuana hidden beneath hot chili peppers. A drug-sniffing dog found them anyway.
Deputies searched the club but no drugs were found.
Drivers Carlos Perez, 36, of Nesbit, Miss., and Francisco Perales, 26, of Memphis both were charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture, deliver, or sell, as well as speeding.
Back at the Eclipse clothing store, undercover deputies arrested Joaquin Garcia, 24, of Cordova, and Richard Villa, 24, of Memphis, in the parking lot where a blue Chevrolet Silverado was found loaded with another 35 pounds of pot.
They were charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture, sell or distribute.
Inside the shop, deputies found a pound and a half of marijuana hidden in secret compartments near the service desk. Victor Perez, 26, and his brother Juan Perez, 36, both of Memphis, were arrested.
Deputies say the brothers were armed with guns and another 92.5 grams of pot was found in Juan’s pants.
Deputies also seized almost $6,000 in cash believed to be connected with the drugs.
Luttrell didn’t see this as an indicator of drugs in the area escalating, but noted, “It’s one of the biggest busts we’ve had in a while.”
Copyright 2007 The Commercial Appeal