The notion that local law enforcement has gotten more mellow about cannabis took a big hit this week as the local sheriff’s office raided the premises of one suggestively-named business in Graham.
This narcotics-related operation culminated on Tuesday at the Hempary, a retail establishment at 305 West Harden Street that has openly proclaimed itself as a “dispensary” and a “cannabis haven.”
According to the office of Alamance County’s sheriff, the deputies who took part in this operation conducted a warranted search of the business, which yielded evidence that has led to the arrest of five Hempary staff members.
[Story continues below photos from the investigation scene on Tuesday.]
The sheriff’s office has identified these five employees as Avinash Raju Khemlani, William Loss Henderson, Jr., Vaughn Marquez Rouse, Michael David Miller, and Nathan Richard Turner.
Of the five, Khemlani, a 34-year-old Asian male from Hillsborough, and Rouse, a 24-year-old black male from Burlington, have incurred the most serious charges.
Their alleged offenses include felony-level trafficking in marijuana; the possession of marijuana with the intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver the drug; possession with the intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver Schedule I and Schedule IV controlled substances; and the sale, manufacture, delivery, or possession of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school. Each suspect also faces misdemeanor charges for the possession of drug paraphernalia.
Both Khemlani and Rouse are currently in jail under bonds of $1.5 million.
The sheriff’s office has also lodged multiple drug-related charges against Henderson, a 42-year-old white male from Graham; Miller, a 29-year-old white male from Apex; and Turner, a 26-year-old black male from Burlington. In each case, these charges include the felony-level possession of marijuana, the felony-level possession of Schedule I and Schedule IV controlled substances, and the misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to the sheriff’s office, Miller has been released on a $50,000 bond since his arrest, while Henderson remains incarcerated under an identical bond. Turner, meanwhile, has been jailed without bond due to an outstanding order for his arrest.
Although the site of Tuesday’s raid is located within the city limits of Graham, this operation was largely the work of the sheriff’s office, according to Daniel Sisk, a spokesman for Graham’s police department. Sisk noted, however, that some of the city’s police officers had a supporting role in the raid.
“We were called to assist,” Sisk acknowledged in an interview on Tuesday. “But the sheriff’s department investigated it.”
According to the sheriff’s office, additional support came from Burlington’s municipal police force, Graham’s code enforcement staff, North Carolina’s Department of Revenue, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
