AHOSKIE – Two Ahoskie men are behind bars, arrested following one of the largest drug busts in recent memory involving seven grams of crack cocaine and over three pounds of marijuana.

Lavar Tivon Pillmon-Holley, 29 of 512 Pine Street, and 28-year-old Terrance Lamont Harrell of 233 Moore Town Road were taken into custody around 11:30 p.m. on Friday as they sat inside a vehicle parked on the back side of Ahoskie Inn.

Pillmon-Holley was charged with two felonies n possession with intent to sell and deliver crack cocaine and possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana. He was jailed under a $125,000 secured bond.

Harrell was incarcerated under a $75,000 secured bond on one felony count of possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana.

Both men will make their first court appearance on March 20.

A third suspect in the case is currently under investigation.

According to Ahoskie Police Chief Troy Fitzhugh, APD Sgt. Andre Snape was on routine patrol Friday night when he spotted a vehicle, occupied by two individuals, parked behind Ahoskie Inn. As he drove towards the vehicle, Sgt. Snape noticed a person sitting in the front passenger’s seat attempt to hide his face.

“That only heightened Sgt. Snape’s curiosity,” Fitzhugh said. “To make things even more interesting, Sgt. Snape said as he was exiting his patrol car prior to approaching the suspect vehicle, he noticed the front seat passenger reaching under the driver’s side seat.”

Approaching with caution, Sgt. Snape made his way to the passenger’s side of the vehicle. There, the lawman was able to positively identify the front seat passenger as Pillmon-Holley.

“Sgt. Snape knew that person by face and also knew there was a warrant for his arrest on the charge of assault on a female,” Fitzhugh said.

While placing Pillmon-Holley under arrest on the warrant, Sgt. Snape said he noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle. Subject to the arrest, Snape searched Pillmon-Holley, finding a large amount of cash in his front right pocket.

After placing Pillmon-Holley in his patrol car, Sgt. Snape returned to the suspect vehicle where he ordered a back seat passenger, later identified as Harrell, to exit the vehicle. Harrell granted permission to search his person where Sgt. Snape discovered a large amount of cash in his front left pocket. Harrell was only detained at that point.

Combined, Sgt. Snape recovered nearly $2,500 in cash from the two men.

Meanwhile, APD Officer Greg Harrison had arrived on the scene. As incident to Pillmon-Holley’s arrest as well as his observations, Sgt. Snape asked Harrison to search under the front seat of the vehicle. There, Harrison found a bag containing what was later confirmed as seven grams of crack cocaine.

That prompted a further search of the vehicle where, in plain view on the back seat, a large trash bag was observed. That bag contained 3.3 pounds of marijuana, resulting in Harrell’s arrest.

The vehicle, a 1993 Chevrolet passenger car in which the two were seated, was seized as part of the drug arrests.

“Sgt. Snape demonstrated his attention to detail in this case,” Chief Fitzhugh said. “He was very observant and those observations led to the arrest of two individuals and, more importantly, kept a large amount of drugs from finding their way into our community.”