Tuesday, May 10, 2016 9:42 am

MIKE WEST
Courier Editor

A McMinnville Highway couple were arrested Tuesday, May 3 and charged on drug charges following a raid by the Cannon County Sheriff's Department.
Taken into custody were Billy and Wanda Mayo. The couple was charged with maintaining a dwelling, manufacture/sale/deliver Schedule VI drugs (marijuana), two counts of simple possession of Schedule II and possession of drug paraphernalia. Their bonds were set at $8,500 each and a hearing is set for June 14 in General Sessions Court.

Making the arrests were Investigator Chris Brown, Investigator Brandon Gullett, Sheriff Darrell Young and Chief Deputy Anthony Young.

On May 3, the officers went to the Mayo's home to speak with them about possible drug dealing from the residence. The couple denied the charge, saying there were no drugs in the home. The couple then consented to a search.

"Once inside we cleared the house to make sure no one else was inside. Once in the house there was a slight odor of marijuana about the living room," Investigator Brown reported.

Officers discovered a hidden compartment in a coffee table.

"Inside the coffee table was a marijuana grinder, rolling papers, a lot of marijuana shake, a silver metal tray with marijuana residue" as well as other drug-related items including three morphine pills, Brown said.

"When we checked under the sofa there was a black and tan Eastport backpack which had a large, gallon sized Ziploc bag with individual sandwich baggies full of marijuana. Each baggie weighed approximately 4 grams and there was a total of 27 bags," the investigator said.

When Brown asked Wanda about the bags of marijuana and she responded ask Billy, who in turn had no response.

"The sheriff then asked him what these are worth and he stated $20-$25 per bag," Brown said.

Three police radio scanners were also found in the house with one in the living room, one in the bedroom and one in Wanda's purse. A loaded .22-caliber pistol was found in the living room.

Officers also confiscated $191 in cash and four cell phones.