VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A growing trend is bringing a problem to light in Virginia Beach.
In a recent Tweet by Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate, he said during a recent shooting investigation, his team found pounds of marijuana inside a home.
Chief Neudigate called this discovery a similar trend to what investigators saw in 2022 with marijuana being "the driving force behind homicides, shootings, and robberies." He added 2023 is matching this trend, so far.
It's similar to what the chief found in his February WAVES crime statistics report to Virginia Beach City council members.
"It should be concerning to all of us that we have young men dying in the city of Virginia Beach over $200 worth of marijuana," Neudigate said during the meeting. "Where we are currently, there's a prevailing belief out there that marijuana is completely legal, but unfortunately, that is not the case, and it's a cash-driven business."
For the city's First Precinct, Neudigate reported violent crime dropped in 2022 overall by 27%. Property crime even decreased by 5%.
However, he said his department saw an increase in stolen guns in 2022, particularly from people's cars. The chief added his team found there was a 32% increase in stolen guns.
Chief Neudigate said this is another big contributing factor to these violent crimes over the past couple of years.
He even Tweeted about a recent traffic stop Sunday evening where his team found five illegally possessed handguns, two of them reportedly stolen.
Some people who live in Virginia Beach tell 13News Now it is upsetting to hear about this problem, especially knowing more people are getting their hands on illegal or stolen guns.
One woman said she's even more upset when she learns about younger people getting ahold of these types of weapons.
In addition to these Tweets, Chief Neudigate shared the fact that his team also recently pulled over a driver of a stolen vehicle where they found and seized marijuana and a reportedly stolen handgun.