By CAROLINE CARMICHAEL / Staff Writer

Mini-mart owner Richard Eugene Mims was arrested by Chilton County deputies around 1 p.m. on Sept. 22 for alleged drug possession and distribution.

Mims owns Lake Mitchell Mini Mart, located on County Road 28.

According to Assistant Chief Deputy Shane Mayfield, “Investigators seized numerous pill bottles containing Xanax and Hydrocodone, Methamphetamine, suboxone, drug paraphernalia and approximately $1,900 in cash.”

Mims is in custody at the Chilton County jail, charged with amphetamine possession, first-offense drug paraphernalia with a $750 bond and synthetic narcotic distribution with a $10,000 bond, according to CCSO.

“This investigation is ongoing into the origin of the prescription narcotics and the original owners,” Mayfield said.

“We are proud of our investigators and the jobs they do in taking these drugs off the street,” Chilton County Sheriff John Shearon said. “These types of investigations don’t happen quickly, but we deal with them as quickly as evidence will allow.”

Shearon thanked citizens for supplying the CCSO with tips, but urged contributors “to be mindful in doing so we have to have the evidence we need to deal with the problem.”