
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, September 24, 1995                   TAG: 9509250047
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BUS LUGGAGE LEADS TO DRUG CHARGES

Police intercepted a suitcase of marijuana Friday on its way from New York to Roanoke via Lexington and arrested three Roanoke residents transporting the contraband-laden luggage.

When a woman got off a Greyhound bus in Lexington at about 7:30 p.m. carrying a bulky suitcase, members of the Rockbridge Regional Drug Task Force were waiting for her, acting on a tip relayed by Roanoke vice detectives, according to Special Agent R.P. Chappell Jr. of the state police.

At 9 p.m., two men picked up the woman and headed south on U.S. 11. State and Lexington police pulled the car over and recovered 15 pounds of marijuana, valued at $62,000, Chappell said.

Police arrested Crystal Diane Cubbage, 20, and Jimmie Lee Thomas, 44, both of 13th Street Southwest, and Jeffery Lamont Patterson, 22, of Kellogg Avenue Northwest. All three were charged with felony possession with intent to distribute more than 5 pounds of marijuana. Cubbage also was charged with a separate felony of transporting a quantity exceeding 5 pounds of marijuana into the commonwealth. Patterson also was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana for a small amount found on his person, Chappell said.

All three were being held in Rockbridge Regional Jail on Saturday on $35,000 bond each.

The Rockbridge Regional Task Force is a cooperative effort among state, Buena Vista and Lexington police and the Rockbridge County Sheriff's Office.

by CNB