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Officers with the Carter County Sheriff’s Office and Elizabethton Police Department Joint Drug Task Force carried out a search warrant Tuesday which led to the arrest of a suspected drug dealer.

Following a months-long investigation, narcotics officers obtained the search warrant for the residence of 31-year-old James Matthew Tipton (also known by the alias “Nike”) on Pine Ridge Circle. During the search, investigators found multiple drug paraphernalia items indicative of narcotic sales, and upon searching Tipton’s vehicle they found methamphetamine and a firearm as well.

Investigators then took Tipton into custody. He is charged with felony possession of methamphetamine, maintaining a dwelling where narcotics are sold, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony.

Tipton is being held in the Carter County Detention Center on a $40,000 bond.