EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A federal grand jury in West Texas has leveled multiple drug and a weapons charge against a reputed Midland narcotics dealer.
The July 23 indictment alleges Aaron Christopher Barnhart possessed and intended to distribute an assortment of controlled substances he had on his person and in his house – where authorities also found 22 pistols and rifles, including one gun reported as stolen.
Barnhart came on the radar of the Midland/Odessa Violent Crimes Task Force last month after investigators received information on the origin of methamphetamine and fentanyl powder distributed in the region.
Task force members set up surveillance on a home on Mile High Lane, tracking its occupant as he allegedly drove to Austin to procure narcotics and arrested him upon return.
A complaint affidavit alleges Midland Police Department officers stopped a white Ford F-250 driven by Barnhart for numerous traffic violations. The officer making the stop allegedly saw a jar with possible drugs in plain view and arrested the driver, who initially was reluctant to be placed in handcuffs.
Police found more than an ounce of fentanyl powder in the jar and a bag with an ounce of meth, and dozens of tadalafil pills – a medication to treat erectile disfunction that can only be sold with a prescription. The officers also located a loaded 9mm pistol under the driver’s seat of the truck, the complaint alleges.
Barnhart refused to answer questions from police at the scene and later from investigators. However, a female passenger in the F-250 allegedly told police Barnhart had a cache of drugs and guns in his house.
Task force investigators obtained a search warrant and interviewed a person inside the home on Mile High Lane who allegedly said he was “watching over the house” in Barnhart’s absence. Inside where 22 firearms, fentanyl, meth, marijuana, edible THC products and Xanax pills, according to the affidavit.
Barnhart faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine if convicted. The U.S. Attorney’s Office also is seeking forfeiture of any guns in the residence that were used to further the commission of a crime.
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