A Harnett County man was arrested on drug charges after mistakenly sending a text message about buying prescription opioid pills to a drug agent, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
Vernon McAuley, 39, of Barbecue Church Road in Harnett County was charged Thursday with possession with intent to sell a schedule III controlled substance.
According to the sheriff’s office, McAuley is alleged to have “mid-entered a phone number when texting, and unintentionally sent a text to a Lee County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Agent requesting interest in buying dosages of suboxone,” according to a press release.
There are roughly 12 drug agents in Lee County, between the sheriff’s office and the Sanford Police Department, or about .0002 percent of Lee County’s total population, making the chances of McAuley’s mistake astronomically low.
“The agent that received the request replied numerous times asking questions to strengthen the validity of the text,” the press release reads.
Eventually, deputies went to the parking lot of the Medicine Park pharmacy at 100 Park Avenue in Sanford, where they met and arrested McAuley. He was allegedly in possession of 21 dosage units of suboxone.
McAuley was placed in the Lee County Jail under $5,000 secured bond.
