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ELKINS - Two employees of the Twisted Smoke Shack in Elkins have been arrested in connection to alleged illegal marijuana products.
Brandi Nicole Harris, 43, of Beverly, and Megan Raye Daniels, 38, of Beverly, were each charged with possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance - marijuana, and conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, all felonies.
Each are being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on separate $20,000 cash-only bonds, set by Magistrate Mike Dyer.
According to the criminal complaints, prepared by Sgt. J.M. Tallman of the Elkins Detachment of the West Virginia State Police, on Aug. 18, members of the Mountain Region Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force served a search warrant at the Twisted Smoke Shack at 95 Ferree Road in Elkins, "as a result of an ongoing investigation into the sales of illegal marijuana products."
Daniels was working in the store at the time the search warrant was executed, the complaint states. During the search officers found "various illegal marijuana products," including "marijuana ‘bud,’ vapes and THC ‘dabs’ that were hidden in various locations," including "underneath a storage cabinet, a mini refrigerator, inside torch boxes in a display case, and in the bottom of a knife display case that was locked and only accessible by a key located behind the counter."
Some of the items seized were field-tested by the state Department of Agriculture and tested over the legal limit for marijuana, according to the complaint. Officers also seized cash from the store.
Following the execution of the search warrant at the store, search warrants were obtained for the residences of the store’s manager, Harris, and employee Daniels, the complaint states.
While searching Harris’ residence, officers found a "large number of Kratom tablets," some of which were "priced for sale and displayed pink stickers with price tags," according to the complaint.
The Twisted Smoke Shack is not registered to sell Kratom products, but one of the Kratom boxes found had a shipping label addressed to Twisted Smoke Shack, the complaint states.
Officers also seized $11,645 in cash, and "financial ledgers and a Savage Mark II, .22 caliber bolt action rifle." Harris is a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing firearms, police said.
While searching Daniels’ residence, officers seized $500 in cash, "various suspected illegal marijuana products" and three firearms, the complaint states. Daniels is a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing firearms, police said.
Inside Daniels’ home, one of the bedrooms included "vape boxes attached to the wall to give the appearance of a store front," according to the complaint. "There was also a display case which gave the appearance that the items were for sale."
A press release from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office states that, during the search of the store, the state Department of Agriculture also seized "approximately 32 boxes containing product that the store was not allowed to sell due to no licensing being on file and/or the product manufacturer did not want the product sold in West Virginia."
The search warrants were executed by the Mountain Region Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, with assistance from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, the West Virginia State Police and the West Virginia Department of Agriculture.
Harris was previously charged in June with two counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance – marijuana, a felony. These charges also related to her employment at Twisted Smoke Shack.
Daniels