BMPD charge two with felony drug charges after traffic stop

A traffic stop near McCoy Cove Road on Jan. 22 led to drug trafficking and weapon charges for a Swannanoa man and felony drug charges for a Black Mountain man.

Jeffrey Allen Wright, 40, of Swannanoa was charged with 10 felonies after officers reported seeing him throw a bag out of his vehicle during a traffic stop that was initiated after the vehicle he was driving allegedly ran through a stop sign.

Black Mountain police officers stopped the car because they concluded the license plate on the vehicle was fictitious, according to Black Mountain police chief Shawn Freeman. The bag that officers believed Wright threw out of the window contained a handgun and “nearly a pound” of methamphetamine, Freeman said.

After the drugs were recovered, Wright was charged with possession with intent to manufacture, sell or distribute methamphetamine and maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for a controlled substance. 

Another discovery at the scene led to seven counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, according to Freeman.

“As we were doing the vehicle search I found where (Wright)  had a storage unit outside of our jurisdiction,” he said. “We were given consent from (Wright) to search it after he told us there were weapons in there.”

The subsequent search of the unit turned up seven weapons, Freeman said.  Officers also confiscated $2,100 in cash that Wright was carrying when he was pulled over. 

Wright was booked into the Buncombe County Detention Center  in lieu of $225,000 secured bond. His first scheduled court appearance was Jan. 23.

The arrest led officers back to the McCoy Cove residence from which Wright was allegedly leaving  when officers first observed his vehicle.

Officers executed a search warrant on the home and arrested Jeffrey Dean Brigman, 43, of Black Mountain and charged with felony possession of a Schedule II controlled substance and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia charge.