SEQUIM — A 69-year-old Sequim resident is being held in the Clallam County jail for investigation of drug sales.
Nona G. Deanda was booked into the jail on Wednesday for investigation of delivery of a controlled substance (fentanyl and methamphetamine) and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (fentanyl and methamphetamine). Bond has been set at $25,000.
The case began last summer, when detectives with the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET) had a confidential informant purchase fentanyl and methamphetamine from Deanda on several occasions, according to a press release.
OPNET issued probable cause for Deanda’s arrest in December.
Detectives saw Deanda near the intersection of 5th Avenue and Alder Street in Sequim and notified the Sequim Police Department, according to the release. An officer arrested Deanda on the probable cause statement.
During a search, the officer located a box containing drug paraphernalia items, about 1.8 grams of suspected methamphetamine, about 2.1 grams of suspected fentanyl in purple chalk form, and a digital scale with white and purple powdery substances on it, OPNET said in the release.
Drug traffickers are increasingly mixing fentanyl, a highly addictive synthetic opioid, into other drugs, OPNET said.
Drug trafficking organizations sometimes mix other dyes into the drug before selling it as a powder or pressing it into pill form, OPNET said.