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Tip Leads to Discovery of Close to 40K Illegal Pills, Guns & 10-Grand in Cash; 23-Year-Old Male Arrested

By October 26, 2016December 31st, 2016Press Releases

Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook announces that a citizen’s tip has led investigators to a cache of illegal pills, drugs, high powered firearms and thousands of dollars inside a storage facility in South Columbia.

As a result, Matthew Ryan Garnett (DOB: 11-18-1992) was arrested on October 21, 2016 and charged with:

  •   Possession with the Intent to Distribute Hashish
  •   Possession with Intent to Distribute a Schedule I Controlled Substance (AB-Fubinaca, a syntheticcannabinoid)
  •   Possession with Intent to Distribute a Schedule IV Controlled Substance (Alprazolam)CPD’s Organized Crime and Narcotics Unit (OCN) began the investigation in May, after investigators received information about drugs inside a storage facility located at 1000 Whaley Street.Active warrants for Garnett’s arrest were initially entered in to National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. Law enforcement officers had been searching for Garnett since the spring.After obtaining a lawful search warrant, OCN Investigators found narcotics with an estimated street value of $200,000:
  •   100 grams of hashish
  •   10,421 green rectangular pills which tested positive for AB-Fubinaca, (schedule I controlledsubstance – also known as marijuana pills with a chemical version of THC)
  •   29, 139 white rectangular pills which tested positive for Alprazolam (schedule IV controlled substance – also known as Xanax).The pills were tested at the Richland County Sheriff Department’s (RCSD) drug laboratory. During the testing process, experts determined that the pills were likely manufactured in a clandestine environment but of unknown origin at this time.

In addition, investigators seized more than, $10,000 in cash, and firearms to include an AR-15 rifle, two Tec-9 sub machine guns and handguns.

Chief Holbrook encourages citizens to call Crimestoppers if they suspect illegal narcotics activity where they live:
CALL toll-free, 888-CRIME-SC.
TEXT to CRIMES (274637), and mark the beginning of the message with “TIPSC,” followed by the tip information.

LOG onto: www.midlandscrimestoppers.com, and click on the red “Submit a tip” tab.

Matthew Ryan Garnett (DOB: 11-18-1992)

Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center Booking Photograph

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