NACOGDOCHES COUNTY, Texas – Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office deputies seized more than 35 gallons of prescription cough syrup during a traffic stop Sunday.
Deputies on patrol in the 300 block of N.W. Stallings Drive Sunday afternoon observed a grey 2020 Chevrolet Equinox commit several moving violations, at which point they initiated a traffic stop. The driver, Harry Lee Parks, and passenger told deputies they’d both traveled to Houston and were headed back to Memphis, Tenn., where they both live. The men provided conflicting descriptions of their short excursion to Texas.
While speaking to the men, deputies noted the smell of marijuana in the vehicle, at which point a search of the vehicle was initiated. During the search, deputies noticed an open bottle of Promethazine cough syrup inside the center
console. Two suitcases in the back seat of the car were opened to reveal a large quantity of commercialgrade, individual bottles of the medication, which is often mixed with codeine or other illicit substances. In the trunk of the vehicle, deputies discovered two more suitcases filled with cough syrup, one of which
also contained a useable amount of marijuana. A vape pen containing THC liquid was also confiscated. In total, 287 bottles of Promethazine were seized. At 473 ml each and not including the open bottle discovered in the console, that is 35.86 gallons.
Parks claimed ownership of the medication and marijuana, and was arrested and booked into the Nacogdoches Count jail on a charge of Possession of a Dangerous Drug.
35 gallons of cough syrup seized in traffic stop
