By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

Brandon Twp.-

A 25-year-old township man is facing a potentially lengthy stint in prison after being found in possession of cocaine.

Zaky Mohammad Elkour was arraigned Jan. 12 on one count of possession with intent to deliver cocaine less than 50 grams, as well as one count of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. He has been released on a $15,000 cash surety bond, or 10 percent cash.

“If you’re going to sell drugs in this township, sooner or later you’ll get caught,” said Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Greg Glover, Brandon substation commander. “This is a small town and people here don’t want that. If you’re going to be in possession of dangerous drugs with the intent to deliver them, at some point, you will have a police contact.”

Glover said numerous drug raids have taken place in this community in the last year and a half, and several have involved search warrants.

The drug bust involving Elkour began at 10:47 p.m., Jan. 9, when a Brandon deputy traveling through the Bueche’s Plaza parking lot at the corner of M-15 and Oakwood Road observed a truck parked in the fire lane next to the door of Bueche’s, a 24-hour grocery store. The truck was running, with headlights on and a plow on the front was lowered to the ground. Upon running the plate, the deputy found the vehicle registered to Elkour, who had a misdemeanor warrant out of Lake Orion.

The deputy was behind the vehicle for at least seven minutes when a man came out of the store and said that Elkour wanted him to move the truck. The deputy requested the man tell Elkour to come outside.

A few minutes later, Elkour exited the store and said he was inside making copies and getting salt.

The deputy informed him of the warrant, to which Elkour responded, “It was not supposed to get that far.”

Lake Orion Police were contacted and said they wanted Elkour on the warrant. A second Brandon deputy had arrived and Elkour was handcuffed and searched, during which the deputy found a wad of organized cash in his front pocket, later determined to be a total of $665, along with a rolled up $20 bill, which the deputy knew from training and experience is often used to snort narcotics.

The deputy then asked if there was anything inside the vehicle he was not supposed to have, and Elkour said no. He then said there was a gun in the vehicle, but he was a CPL holder.

During a search of the vehicle, the deputies found a hard sunglass case in the center console, inside of which they found four small plastic coin envelopes, each with a white, hard rocky substance inside, which field tested for cocaine. In total, the envelopes and their contents weighed 7.1 grams. They also found another empty plastic coin envelope. In the driver’s side door was an open pint of Fireball cinnamon whiskey. Under the steering column of the truck was a holder attached to the dash. Inside was a 9mm handgun.

When the deputy returned to the patrol unit, Elkour asked if all was good, and the deputy told him he knew that it was not. Elkour asked what the issue was with the cocaine/Adderall. The deputy asked Elkour if he was asking what the issue was with him possessing cocaine and Elkour stated that a lot of people do things that they are not supposed to do, but again asked what the issue was.

He was transported to the Oakland County Jail and while there, Elkour told the deputy he last used cocaine over the weekend, but snorted Adderall this night, which he does not have a prescription for.

A search warrant was obtained for Elkour’s township residence, and on Jan. 10, the search was conducted, with items found including 1.2 grams of cocaine with packaging located in a kitchen cupboard, two baggies located in a can on a bedroom shelf, one of which had cocaine residue, four baggies with drug ledger/tally sheets in an entryway cabinet, one of which also contained cocaine residue, boxes of ammunition for 9 mm and .35 caliber guns, and a false bottom can. All of these items were seized.

The penalty for being in possession of cocaine with intent to deliver is 20 years in prison and/or a $25,000 fine.

“We don’t want this around our kids in this community,” said Glover. “We will make a project of you if you come to our attention as a drug dealer.”