1,000 bags of alleged heroin seized
A Butler woman is behind bars on six-figure bond stemming from a Thursday traffic stop that led to city police seizing more than 1,000 stamp bags of suspected heroin along with suspected crack cocaine and powder cocaine.
Dana L. Vanatta, 34, of Butler, is facing multiple drug felonies. She is in the Butler County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bond.
Patrolman Ryan Doctor, who also is an officer with the Butler County Drug Task Force, initially spotted Vanatta driving a car about 1:30 p.m. at Broad and West Jefferson streets, police said.
Vanattaallegedly committed a traffic violation, and the officer followed the car to the Shell gas station on West Jefferson Street.
Vanatta went into the store, police said. She returned to the car with a man, who got into the driver's seat. Vanatta was in the passenger seat.
The vehicle eventually crossed South Main Street and turned onto an alleyway off of East Wayne Street, where Doctor made a traffic stop. Police said Vanatta was acting nervously.
An initial consent search of the car turned up suspected contraband. Police later had the car towed to the city fire station.A search of Vanatta, police said, turned up 169 stamp bags of suspected heroin, a plastic baggie containing 3.88 grams of suspected powder cocaine, two small knotted baggies of suspected crack cocaine and a rock of suspected methamphetamine.Police later got a search warrant for the car. Officers found a digital scale, uncapped syringes and drug-packaging materials in the vehicle, according to court documents. They also found $1,095 and four cellphones.Vanatta, during a later interview, acknowledged that she had more narcotics at her apartment on the 500 block of West Jefferson Street. In turn, police got a search warrant for the apartment.At the home, documents said, police found 870 glassine bags of suspected heroin, a sandwich baggie with about 28.3 grams of suspected crack and another sandwich baggie with approximately 12.7 grams of suspected powder cocaine.Police said they also turned up more drug-packaging materials.District Judge Lewis Stoughton on Friday arraigned Vanatta on three felony charges of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.Additionally, she is charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, all misdemeanors. Police also cited her for driving with a suspended license.Online court records did not indicate if Vanatta has an attorney.
