BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — An Inez resident found himself in police custody Thursday after a traffic stop escalated into multiple drug trafficking charges.

Martin County Sheriff John Kirk stopped Haskell Mills, 42, for failing to use a turn signal on Route 645 in Inez. During the traffic stop, sheriff’s deputies deployed a K9 unit to conduct a search of Mills’s SUV. The canine quickly alerted to illicit substances at the back of the vehicle.

Deputies searched the SUV, discovering white powdery and crystal substances inside a black container.

According to the arrest report, Mills told the officers that he had additional drugs at his residence on Union Road. Mills consented to a search of his home, providing officers access to the property and directing them to a safe.

Upon opening the safe, officers uncovered a trove of illegal substances. Those included a green leafy substance, a crystal substance, and a white powdery substance. They also found bags, digital scales, grinders and smoking pipes. Police seized three firearms and a jar containing $1,687 cash from the safe.

The search of the premises did not end there. The officers located additional crystal and white powdery substances in a dresser drawer.

Allegedly, Mills made incriminating statements suggesting his involvement in drug trafficking.

Mills now faces several charges, including first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (less than 2 grams of methamphetamine), first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (over 4 grams of cocaine), trafficking in marijuana (8 ounces to 5 pounds), possession of drug paraphernalia, third-degree possession of a controlled substance (drug unspecified), and failure to or improper turn signal.

Chief Deputy Chris Kidd and Deputy Jonathan Holbrook assisted the sheriff at the scene.