PORT ANGELES — A convicted felon suspected of selling drugs out of area motels and carrying a handgun has been charged with drug crimes and a weapons violation after an Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team investigation, officials announced.
Darrin M. Liggins, 47, of Port Angeles was arrested Saturday after Clallam County sheriff’s deputies and OPNET personnel found weapons and drugs in a vehicle Liggins was driving after a traffic stop in Gales Addition.
Liggins was charged Monday in Clallam County Superior Court with possession with intent to manufacture or deliver heroin and methamphetamine, possession of oxycodone, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and third-degree driving with a suspended or revoked licence.
Liggins is being held in the Clallam County jail on $150,000 bail.
He is scheduled to enter a plea Dec. 1.
OPNET officials received information over the past three months that Liggins had been selling heroin and meth out of local motels and that he was armed with a handgun, Detective Sgt. John Keegan said in a news release.
Liggins was convicted in 2013 of two counts of possession with intent to distribute meth, Keegan said.
A Clallam County sheriff’s deputy spotted Liggins’ vehicle outside of a residence on the 2000 block of East Fourth Street on Saturday. The residence was known by law enforcement to be frequented by drug users, OPNET said in a news release.
A deputy performed a traffic stop on Liggins at East Fourth Avenue and Bourchier Street and booked Liggins for investigation of an outstanding warrant.
Sheriff’s deputies and OPNET personnel found 10 grams of suspected meth, 4 grams of suspected heroin, more than $1,600 cash, a loaded Ruger 9 mm semi-automatic pistol with magazine, .38 special cartridges, .22-magnum cartridges, eight oxycodone pills, a digital scale and scale calibration kit, numerous glass pipes, other drug paraphernalia and suspected burglar tools in the vehicle, Keegan said.
Field tests on the suspected drugs showed positive matches for meth and heroin, Keegan said.
A search of a motel room where Liggins had been staying yielded a pistol holster, two pistol magazines for a 9 mm firearm, a switchblade knife and other items consistent with the distribution of controlled substances, Keegan said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.