Suspicion Of Drug Activity Leads To Big Drug Bust In Cosby

An Ohio man is in custody in Cocke County after a major drug bust Wednesday. Narcotics agents with the Cocke County sheriff’s office were watching activity at the Dollar General Market in Cosby, as several employees had complained about recent drug transaction activity in the parking lot. The agents watched one woman interact with another woman in a white van. After several minutes, the woman outside the van got into a silver colored and van and both drove away. Both headed northbound on Cosby Hwy, both vehicles failing to maintain their lane, giving deputies the right to conduct a traffic stop. A K9 deputy had discovered drugs in the silver van leading to a search of the white van. In that vehicle, deputies found illegal narcotics including fentanyl and drug paraphernalia used for selling illegal narcotics. The passenger in that van was 35 year old David Kelly, who was found to be wanted in the state of Ohio and was shown to be a registered sex offender in that state. Kelly had been living in Tennessee for about a year. Inside the Airbnb property in Cosby that Kelly was staying in, deputies found a substantial amount of illegal pills. That included 1,432 fentanyl pills, plus over 60 Gabapentin pills. A bag of powder believed to be heroin was also found with a bottle of powder commonly used to cut heroin for resale. Also found was a Taurus 9mm handgun and $1,300 in cash. David Kelly is now in custody on numerous drug charges plus unlawful possession of a weapon. He is being held in the Cocke County jail on a $500,000 bond.