Tucked near the end of West Main Street in Elkton, it's an otherwise ordinary looking apartment building where someone noticed an extraordinary amount of people coming and going from a ground floor unit.
Police Chief Matthew Donnelly credits a tip from the public with what would happen next.
"One of our patrol officers, Officer Gabriel Rimolo, received some information from a citizen that there were some drug sales occurring in the 300 block of West Main Street here in town. As a result, he obtained a search and seizure warrant and early yesterday morning, they executed the warrant," Donnelly said,
When police raided the apartment, they discovered more than 1,300 bags of heroin, a loaded 38-caliber semi-automatic handgun and additional ammunition.
They arrested 32-year old T.W. Jamale Washington on the spot.
Back in June, police seized more than 6,000 baggies of heroin and hundreds of syringes just two blocks away after other reports from citizens of drug dealing in their neighborhood.
In a small town of less than 16,000 people, heroin has driven violent crime and property crime rates to triple the state average here in the county seat, but working together, the public and the police are joining forces to stop it.
"We believe we're taking a bite out of it and Elkton is not unique in this heroin issue that's extended throughout the state and throughout the country for that matter,” said Donnelly, “So our guys are hitting it hard and we're doing the best job that we can do and we've been rather successful, we believe, in trying to take a bite out of this problem."
Washington now faces a series of charges for possessing and distributing drugs, along with four gun-related charges, since his status as a convicted felon barred him from possessing a handgun.
