Albuquerque man arrested in RR for trafficking drugs

RIO RANCHO — A stolen vehicle search turned into a drug trafficking arrest.

Eddy Kirksey, 47, of Albuquerque, was arrested Dec. 31 for trafficking, possession of a controlled substance, receiving or transferring stolen motor vehicles, unlawful carry of a deadly weapon and possession of drug paraphernalia in the 600 block of Second Street.

Officers were trying to locate a stolen van, according to a criminal complaint. Dispatch reported it was spotted near Northern and Rainbow boulevards, and it was later found at a Second Street residence.

Officers saw two men and a woman near the van in the backyard of the property using a drone. The men jumped over a fence and began walking toward Third Street. The woman went inside a brown shack in the backyard. Officers stopped the men, and when they patted them down for weapons, found brass knuckles on one man, later identified as Kirksey.

Officers also found multiple controlled substances, including 180.5 blue pills believed to be fentanyl and 8.49 grams of a crystal substance believed to be methamphetamine, and a large amount of cash. 

The woman was also detained when she came out to talk with officers. She told officers Kirksey picked her up that morning to get cigarettes. She said he told her the van was having battery issues so he drove her to a house off of Pecos Loop and Atlantic Road. She told him to bring her back home, and he left the van at the residence when he left.

The van was then removed from the residence and searched.  The search turned up a bong with burnt white and brown residue.

Kirksey could face more than 10 years in prison if he is convicted.