A Mountain Home man, 26-year-old Michael Hobbs, was arrested Wednesday on an outstanding warrant for delivery of meth or cocaine, allegedly taking place on March 26th, to a confidential informant. He is being held in the Baxter County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond.
According to the arrest affidavit, on March 26th an arrangement was made by a confidential informant to purchase an 8-ball, or 3.5 grams, of methamphetamine at a residence on Glenstone. The residence is the same residence in which a confidential informant arranged to purchase an 8-ball of methamphetamine from 22-year-old Thornfield resident Jared Coddington in early January. This time Coddington was apparently the middle man, and the informant purchased the drugs from Hobbs.
The residence is within 1,000 feet of a church.
When the informant returned the drugs to law enforcement officers, the substance field tested negative for methamphetamine.
Mountain Home Police Chief Carry Manuel says the negative results could be from a faulty field testing kit or the drugs were fake. Drug testing kits are not always accurate and are not admissible in court. Selling a substance purportedly to be an illegal drug is still a criminal offense whether it tests positive or not.
The substance has been sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for identification.
Hobbs faces felony charges of delivery of meth or cocaine and an enhanced penalty for proximity to certain facilities.
Coddington has two open cases against him related to distributing narcotics in Mountain Home.
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