PALM COAST, FL – The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) puts a 33-year-old Georgia man in handcuffs after he was found asleep in a truck with enough fentanyl to potentially kill the entire populations of Flagler and Putnam counties.
James Wilson Duke – a resident of Kennesaw, GA – is held on $508,000 bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility following his arrest just after 4:00 a.m. Sunday (September 18, 2022) at the Mobil gas station on 6020 East State Road 100 in Palm Coast.
A deputy responding to an alarm at the closed gas station found Duke sleeping in a black Ford Ranger parked behind the building. When the deputy woke Duke up, he told the deputy he had permission to be there but couldn’t give the deputy the name or contact information of the person who gave him permission. He also gave the deputy several different names when he was asked to identify himself.
Once the deputy discovered his correct name, it was learned that he had a non-extraditable arrest warrant from the Knox County Sheriff’s Office (Tennessee) for failure to appear in court. Duke was then arrested for giving a false name to law enforcement, loitering or prowling and resisting an officer.
While impounding the truck, deputies found a loaded syringe underneath a passenger seat. Deputies then found multiple plastic bags filled with fentanyl in a black fanny pack, totaling out at 338 grams. Empty plastic bags with fentanyl residue inside were also discovered in a suitcase found inside the truck. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimates it only takes two milligrams of fentanyl to cause an overdose death.
Deputies also seized an electronic weighing scale known to be used by drug dealers to weigh drugs and a tool bag filled with items commonly used by burglars, including screwdrivers, hammers and wire cutters.
Because of what was discovered during the arrest and search, FCSO added additional charges of trafficking in fentanyl and possession with intent of burglary tools as well as possession of drug paraphernalia.
“This is the second time in less than a week we’ve found enough fentanyl on a fugitive to potentially kill over 100,000 people,” said Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly. “This dirtbag had enough on him to potentially kill 169,000 people. Street grade fentanyl is flooding our country from Mexico and Flagler County is not immune from this poison. Poison peddlers need to get this message: Don’t sleep in Flagler County or you’ll be residents of the Green Roof Inn.”
Duke has no prior arrests in Flagler County.
FCSO
