DARE COUNTY, N.C. — Two men from Virginia Beach were arrested on the Outer Banks early Monday morning on several drug charges, the Dare County Sheriff's Office said.
Sterling Thomas Kessel, 42, and Richard Norman Smith II, 41, were arrested after deputies came across a vehicle stuck in the ditch along North Carolina Highway 12 in Frisco around 2:50 a.m.
According to the sheriff's office, the deputies ran the tag on the vehicle and it came back stolen out of Virginia Beach. While looking up the owner and vehicle information using the VIN number, the deputies allegedly saw drug paraphernalia "in plain view," prompting a search.
The sheriff's office said the deputies found and seized marijuana, marijuana paraphernalia, drug paraphernalia, and methamphetamine from the vehicle.
Kessel and Smith were charged with the following:
- Possession of stolen property
- Possession of marijuana
- Possession of drug paraphernalia
- Possession of marijuana paraphernalia
- Possession of methamphetamine
- Possession with intent to sell or deliver methamphetamine
Kessel got a $40,000 bond and Smith got a $52,000 bond.
