August 25, 2009
Gary Davidson
Public Information Officer

DEPUTY SPOTS COCAINE OPERATION THROUGH OPEN DOOR

A Volusia County Sheriff’s deputy responding to a neighborhood complaint of possible drug activity got an eyeful when he pulled up to a house on Smith Court near DeLand early Tuesday morning. Deputies were dispatched to the house after a resident called 911 at 4:34 a.m. to complain about a lot of vehicles coming and going at all hours of the night. The caller suspected illegal drug activity was taking place. As it turned out, the caller was right.

With the front door wide open, the deputy stood outside and looked in and saw two men standing in the kitchen next to a microwave oven. When the deputy announced himself, one of the men started walking quickly towards the bathroom as he held something in his hands. The next thing the deputy heard was the sound of a toilet flushing. Suspicious that evidence of a crime was being destroyed, the deputy entered the house and looked in the bathroom to see the toilet overflowing and a clear plastic bag in the bowl. The deputy retrieved the bag, which contained 12 smaller bags -- 10 with cocaine and two with marijuana. The deputy also spotted a sure sign that drugs were being cooked in the microwave -- a wine glass containing a warm mixture of water and a white powdery solution that turned out to be cocaine. Deputies also recovered a stolen 2002 Lexus during the investigation.

Arrested during the incident were 46-year-old Horacio Molina on charges of manufacture of crack cocaine and trafficking in cocaine and 35-year-old Kevis Murphy on charges of manufacture of crack cocaine, trafficking in cocaine, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and destroying or tampering with physical evidence.