Officer charged with drug trafficking at TCI
Wesley Thompson, a Correctional Officer at Tabor Correctional Institution, in the custody of Capt. Christopher Hilburn of the Tabor City Police Department Friday afternoon. (Deuce Niven, TLT)
By DEUCE NIVEN
tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com
A correctional officer was in handcuffs Friday afternoon, charged with trafficking synthetic cannabinoids inside Tabor Correctional Institution.
Wesley Thompson, 24, of Twin Pines Road, Whiteville, was charged after another correctional officer discovered contraband hidden in a podium in the close custody (maximum security) section at the state prison west of Tabor City, Maj. Russell Conway of the Tabor City Police Department said.
Thompson was booked at the Columbus County Detention Center Friday evening, his bond set at $25,000 secured, Conway said.
Police were called in to investigate, with assistant from the NC State Bureau of Investigation. Surveillance video in the prison led investigators to Thompson and to an inmate, who was allegedly provided some of the drug, Conway said. That contraband was located during a search of the inmate’s cell, Conway said.
More than 50 dosage units, 200 grams of the synthetic drug commonly known as K2/Spice was recovered, Conway said.
Synthetic cannabinoids, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration online Drug Fact Sheet says, “mimic THC, the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana.”
Conway said the investigation at TCI is ongoing.
Look for more on this story as events warrant and in the next Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.
