(Oct. 15, 2015) Berlin police last Thursday announced the first significant heroin bust in the town in more than a year, as 19-year-old Richard Tye Mumford Jr. of Bishopville was charged with possessing more than 60 packets of the drug, with intent to distribute.
Berlin police said they received a “concerned resident’s tip” of drug activity at the Bay Terrace Apartments on 517 Bay Street on Oct. 8.
Officers arrived at the scene at approximately 11:30 a.m. and saw what they considered suspicious activity involving a 1998 Buick Park Avenue in the parking lot of the apartment complex.
Police approached two men standing near the car. One fled and the other was questioned and released, according to police.
When police approached the driver, Mumford, a 5’6”, 135-pound African-American, they reported smelling a strong odor of marijuana coming from both his person and the car itself.
A search of the vehicle turned up the heroin packets as well as a loaded .38 caliber handgun, four cell phones and $470 in cash.
Police reportedly also found a “large caliber bullet hole” near the glove compartment.
The car was impounded and Mumford was taken to Worcester County Jail and charged with six counts including possession, intent to distribute and four counts related to possession of a handgun.
Bond was initially set at $25,000.
Officer Aaron Titerence with the Berlin Police Department said the amount of heroin seized was not unusual in this kind of circumstance.
“Sixty, 70 to a hundred bags is usually what a typical dealer will carry on them at a time,” he said. “You’ll see up to thousands of bags at a stash house or in a dealer’s actual house.”
Titerence said the street value of the individual bags could vary from as little as $10 to as much as $50 each.
According to Maryland Judiciary Case Search a preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 3.
The incident is still under investigation by the Berlin Police Department and the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Enforcement Team.
Berlin police said they received a “concerned resident’s tip” of drug activity at the Bay Terrace Apartments on 517 Bay Street on Oct. 8.
Officers arrived at the scene at approximately 11:30 a.m. and saw what they considered suspicious activity involving a 1998 Buick Park Avenue in the parking lot of the apartment complex.
Police approached two men standing near the car. One fled and the other was questioned and released, according to police.
When police approached the driver, Mumford, a 5’6”, 135-pound African-American, they reported smelling a strong odor of marijuana coming from both his person and the car itself.
A search of the vehicle turned up the heroin packets as well as a loaded .38 caliber handgun, four cell phones and $470 in cash.
Police reportedly also found a “large caliber bullet hole” near the glove compartment.
The car was impounded and Mumford was taken to Worcester County Jail and charged with six counts including possession, intent to distribute and four counts related to possession of a handgun.
Bond was initially set at $25,000.
Officer Aaron Titerence with the Berlin Police Department said the amount of heroin seized was not unusual in this kind of circumstance.
“Sixty, 70 to a hundred bags is usually what a typical dealer will carry on them at a time,” he said. “You’ll see up to thousands of bags at a stash house or in a dealer’s actual house.”
Titerence said the street value of the individual bags could vary from as little as $10 to as much as $50 each.
According to Maryland Judiciary Case Search a preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 3.
The incident is still under investigation by the Berlin Police Department and the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Enforcement Team.