Underwood-Cuffie
1 jailed following Newton Grove traffic stop
A 27-year-old Fayetteville man remained in the Sampson County Detention Center Monday afternoon under an over half-million dollar bond, facing charges of trafficking fentanyl totaling one-half pound, among other felony offenses.
Malcolm Rashun Underwood-Cuffie, 3328 Reno Drive, Fayetteville, was taken into custody by Newton Grove Police around 7:30 p.m. Thursday following a traffic stop on Mount Olive Drive near Alex Benton Road. He was charged with two counts trafficking in opium or heroin, maintaining a place/dwelling for the sale of a controlled substance; possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver cocaine, possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver marijuana, possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver a Schedule I controlled substance and possession of a firearm by a felon. All the charges are felony offenses.
In addition, Underwood-Cuffie faces misdemeanor charges of carrying a concealed weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to reports, his arrest came on the heels of a traffic stop made by Officer Alan Blanchard, who pulled Underwood-Cuffie’s vehicle over for speeding 54 mph in a posted 35 mph zone and, during the stop, noted smelling the odor of marijuana.
Blanchard asked the driver, identified as Underwood-Cuffie, to step out of the vehicle, noting that he observed a clear piece of plastic with white residue at that time, leading him to request permission to search the vehicle.
There were two passengers in the vehicle, neither of whom were charged.
Underwood-Cuffie, reports indicate, admitted to Blanchard that he had smoked marijuana earlier in the day, and agreed to the search.
That search turned up a half dozen small plastic sandwich bags, a set of digital scales, a paper bag folded over and containing a large amount of a purplish powder pressed together, a substance that Blanchard noted in his report, “I can only describe as a brick.” That substance was believed to be fentanyl and, according to law enforcement sources was enough, when cut, to kill over a hundred thousand people.
There were also smaller bags of purple powder substance pressed together that was also seized at the time of the search.
Also discovered during the search, reports show, was a small bag of a substance believed to be marijuana, found on the driver’s side floorboard. In the center console, Blanchard searched the front passenger seat of the vehicle. In the floorboard area of the passenger seat, the officer located another substance, this one a white powder which also appeared to be clumped together.
“Due to my training and experience, I recognized this as cocaine,” Officer Blanchard stated in his report.
“(Sampson County Sheriff’s) Captain Timmy Bass confirmed this as well. I also located a revolver-style pistol. Closer inspection revealed it was a Taurus .38 Special. I also located several other plastic sandwich-style bags with white powder residue and a set of scales with white powder on them.”
In total, officers confiscated 248.91 grams of a substance believed to be fentanyl; eight grams of a substance believed to be cocaine; and 20 grams of what was believed to be marijuana. All the substances will be sent to the State Bureau of Investigation lab for further confirmation.
In the report, it noted that Underwood-Cuffie claimed everything inside the vehicle was his.
Because of Newton Grove’s close proximity to major interstates and highways, officers noted that drugs are often transported through the small Sampson County town.
“Highway 13 is a thoroughfare for drug trafficking between Goldsboro and Fayetteville,” Newton Grove Police Chief Greg Warren said in an interview. “We see it often through here.
“Supposedly, his (Underwood-Cuffie) destination was Fayetteville; he got off on the wrong exit and that’s why he was pulled over on Mount Olive Highway,” added Warren.
Underwood-Cuffie received a $525,000.00 secured bond. A trial date had not been set at press time.