On Wednesday, 01/23/2019, a day long surveillance of suspected drug traffickers took the JCSO Narcotics Task Force and ATF Agents from Port Arthur to Houston and back into Jefferson County. Jefferson County Deputies stopped the suspect vehicle on Hwy 73 and Wilber Road in Jefferson County.
The two occupants, 37 year old Joey Guy Wilson of Port Arthur, Texas and 61 year old Chester Elwin Barber of Texas City, Texas were arrested for outstanding warrants. Wilson had Traffic Warrants and Barber had a Parole Violation Warrant.
A search of the vehicle yielded 2 ounces of Heroin and 6.6 grams of China White Heroin which is a synthetic version of Fentanyl.
Both Wilson and Barber were booked into the Jefferson County Correctional Facility for their outstanding warrants and two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance. Barber is also a confirmed Mexican Mafia gang member considered to be armed and dangerous as well as a flight risk.
China White heroin has been responsible for much of the increase in drug overdose deaths in recent years, and multiple variations are being made and sold on the black market. Illegal drug manufacturers frequently tinker with the ingredients, and users often have no idea exactly what they are putting into their system. Since the chemicals in any synthetic drug formulation constantly change and widely vary in toxicity, there is no way to know what its exact effect on a person will be.
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1/25/2019 12:42 PM
Crystal Holmes, PIO
cholmes@co.jefferson.tx.us
