Heroin traffickers caught

Published 12:00 am Friday, August 1, 2014

Police recovered heroin, pill and marijuana following a traffic stop Thursday.

Police recovered heroin, pill and marijuana following a traffic stop Thursday.


In one of the single biggest heroin busts in recent years, officers with the Florala Police Department arrested four Mississippi residents following a traffic early Thursday morning.

FPD Sgt. Paul Adams said officer Jessica Lawhorn pulled over a vehicle driven by William Nickels on North 6th Street at approximately 2 a.m., Thursday and immediately suspected something more was awry with the vehicle’s four occupants.

“Officer Lawhorn pulled the vehicle over for speeding,” Adams said. “She immediately smelled the strong odor of marijuana and called me for backup.”

Inside the vehicle Adams said officers found a large amount of heroin, 30-to-40 pills, 150-to-200 syringes, marijuana and almost $3,000 in cash.

Arrested were Nickels, Katherine White, Tammy Huddleston and Michael Huddleston.

Adams said the department is proud of the work done by both Lawhorn and new FPD officer Chad Phillips in executing what he called a big drug bust.

“We see heroin and that sort of stuff every now and again, but almost never in this amount,” Adams said. “They had more than enough for it be considered trafficking.”

All four suspects were transported to the Covington County Jail and each charged with trafficking heroin, possession of marijuana II, possession of controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

They are each being held on a $371,000 bond.