Cocaine Found Inside Business Next To Police Station

The owner of an automotive repair business next door to the Smithfield Police Department has been arrested on drug charges.

Police said they received a tip about possible drug activity at Franks Automotive at 440 East Market Street, which is adjacent to the police station on South Fifth Street.  Officers went to the business Wednesday afternoon and reportedly found cocaine in plain sight on a table. During a search of a man identified as the owner, Milton Frank Paul III, 48, of the 2200 block of Highway 96 South, Four Oaks, additional cocaine was found along with drug paraphernalia, according Captain T.S. Choe.

Paul was charged with felony possession of cocaine and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.   JoCoReport.com Photo