A 47-year-old county man is behind bars under a $500,000 bond on multiple drug charges following an undercover investigation into cocaine distribution in the county, Sheriff Graham Atkinson said Thursday.
Atkinson said that over the course of the past three months, undercover officers made multiple purchases of cocaine from Ricardo Delgadillo, who he described as a “major cocaine distributor.”
“He’s part of a larger distribution network, but in Surry County he’s a major player in cocaine distribution,” he said.
This past Monday, officers searched Delgadillo’s vehicle and discovered more than six ounces of cocaine, and more than three ounces were found at his home, located at 106 Memphis Lane.
Atkinson said investigators believe the cocaine is manufactured in Columbia and subsequently smuggled into the U.S., “sometimes directly and sometimes through Mexico.”
Delgadillo has been charged with 18 counts of trafficking cocaine by possession, sale, delivery, and manufacture; five counts of maintaining a drug house and five counts of the possession of drug paraphernalia.
Local investigators were assisted in the investigation by officers with the State Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In addition, ICE is investigating Delgadilloo’s citizenship status.
Reach Keith Strange at kstrange@civitasmedia.com or 719-1929.
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