JNET: Drug Trafficking Case Stemming From Centralia Traffic Stop Goes Federal 

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Two subjects who were charged for drug trafficking-related offenses in Lewis County Superior Court earlier this week were remanded into federal custody on Friday. 

David A. Berryhill, 47, of Bremerton, and Jamie J. Kelly, 50, of Seabeck, were released to federal agents just after 3:40 p.m. on June 17, according to jail records. 

Berryhill and Kelly had been in custody since Tuesday, after members of the Joint Narcotic Enforcement Team (JNET) and a Centralia Police Department K9 Team, Officer Ruben Ramirez and K9 Pax, found 8 pounds of suspected methamphetamine and 10,000 pills suspected to contain fentanyl following following a traffic stop on northbound Interstate 5 in Centralia. 

The subjects’ vehicle had been traveling 85 mph in a posted 70 mph zone, prompting the traffic stop, according to court documents. 

Local law enforcement had also received a tip from the state drug enforcement that the subjects’ vehicle — a white Toyota Tacoma — “might be carrying large quantities of illegal controlled substances,” according to court documents.  

Ramirez deployed Pax as soon as officers made contact with Berryhill, who was driving. The officers obtained a search warrant to search the vehicle after Pax alerted to the odor of narcotics. 

According to a JNET detective, “Berryhill and Kelly have been driving through a variety of



states, and the DEA has been tracking them.”

The Tacoma they were driving at the time of their arrest had been rented out of California, according to court documents. 

“As a result of this stop, JNET prevented approximately 8 pounds of suspected Methamphetamine and 10,000 pills suspected to contain Fentanyl, from hitting the streets of our communities,” stated JNET in a news release on Tuesday. 

Bremerton and Kelly were initially charged in Lewis County Superior Court with the understanding that “it is likely this case will go federal,” according to court documents. 

The federal case was filed on Friday, according to Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher.