Deputies raided the home of a suspected drug dealer early Thursday morning only to find that the Snyderville Basin man was not home when they burst into the unit.
Officers, though, found marijuana stashed throughout the home. The suspect did not return as agents searched the one-bedroom unit for hours. The raid occurred at Canyon Creek Club on Bitner Road.
Headlights were turned off when a convoy of dark Summit County Sheriff’s Office vehicles descended upon the housing complex. A team of heavily armed officers exited the trucks. Dressed in black and wearing facemasks, they marched in a line along the grass and up a staircase to the third floor, positioning themselves just outside the suspect’s door.
“We’ve been in and we’ve made controlled buys out of there,” said Detective Ron Bridge, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.
Working undercover, officers purchased marijuana several times from the suspect, Bridge explained.
Sheriff’s Office deputies received an anonymous tip notifying them of the suspected drug-dealing operation, he added.
In entering the home, officers loudly announced they had a search warrant then forced their way in using a metal battering ram.
“Right now they’re just searching each room, they’re just searching for people,” said Jared Rigby, chief deputy of the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office.
Nobody was inside the home.
“You never know what’s on the other side of that door,” Rigby said.
Once inside the unit, Rigby said, the living room matched the description provided by undercover officers.
“We’ve had people in here making drug buys, right here,” Rigby said, pointing to a sofa. “This is where the drug deals happened.”
A judge issued a “no knock” warrant for the operation, which allowed deputies to forcibly enter the home at night without permission from the suspect.
“They followed the rules,” Rigby said. “Nobody’s rights were violated.”
Investigators found several containers of marijuana in the freezer.
“We’ve got a freezer full of weed,” one officer exclaimed.
And a deputy searching the bedroom found a large plastic bag containing marijuana that was tucked inside a bag in a closet.
“That’s a lot of bud right there,” Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds said.
Deputies seized drug paraphernalia and about 24 ounces of marijuana from inside the unit, according to Bridge.
Rigby described the search as “successful.”
“This will shut down this operation,” he added.
Deputies may seek an arrest warrant for the suspect.
“We have probable cause to arrest him right now,” Bridge said.