By BILL GRUBB
NEWS EDITOR

BULLS GAP - A complaint concerning a possible drug deal in a Bulls Gap businesses parking lot sent four individuals to jail Monday on drug-related charges, although one suspect made a brief visit to the hospital because he hid the evidence in a body cavity.
    Ryan Andrew Allen, 23, 356 Wahoo Drive, Kingsport, was charged with possession of a Schedule II drug (oxycodone).
    Kendra Deann Wade, 39, 691 Chadwick Drive, Apartment 4, Kingsport, was charged with sale and delivery of a Schedule II drug (oxycodone).
    Richard Dion Rogers, 46, 356 Wahoo Drive, Kingsport, and Patricia Ann Graham, 43, 1129 Birdwell Street, Kingsport, each face a charge of sale and delivery of Schedule II drugs by criminal responsibility (oxycodone).
    According to a report by Hawkins County Sheriff's Office Detective Jeff Hilton, on February 18 the HCSO Narcotics Unit received an anonymous complaint concerning a possible "drug deal" involving a black 2002 Mercedes-Benz SUV and a gray 1998 Honda SUV in the Family Dollar parking lot.
    The officers began surveillance and ultimately approached the two vehicles, with  Rogers and Wade in the Honda and Allen, Wade and another man, who was released, in the Mercedes-Benz.  Authorities also identified Allen as Rodgers' step-son.
    The suspects reportedly said that Rogers had paid for Wade to visit what authorities describe as a pain clinic in Georgia and receive a prescription for the medication and then the Kingsport resident returned to Bulls Gap to get the prescription filled.
    During the investigation, however, officers could not locate the missing pills.
   "During a later interview with Mr. Allen, he told narcotics officers that he had concealed the (80) oxycodone pills inside a body cavity as narcotics officers approached.  Due to the high potential for a lethal overdose, Mr. Allen was immediately transported to the Hawkins County Wellmont Emergency Room in order to have the pills properly extracted by a physician," a HCSO press release stated.