Durham police seize cash, heroin in drug-trafficking investigation
Durham policed seized cash and drugs worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Durham man charged with trafficking heroin, according to recently released court documents.
Michael Scarborough, 40, faces drug charges after police arrested him in October at a “stash house” where they found about 5.5 pounds of heroin, records show.
Scarborough was released from the Durham County jail Wednesday on $750,000 bail.
The drugs collected in a safe at 805 Dupree St. are worth between $114,000 and $180,000, according to court records. Police say they also seized $189,164 from Scarborough’s bedroom at his home on Spindlewood Court.
Police suspect the drug operation included a “shell business” known as Bayos and Company International Hair Gallery and Boutique.
“I believe that Bayos is used as a front or shell business, as a means to appear to outsiders that the Scarboroughs possessions are supported by legitimate means,” Durham Invesitgator J. Green wrote in a warrant affidavit. “This investigation has yet to reveal another business that the Scarboroughs’ own, making Bayos a probable source for money laundering.”
Bayos is located in a suite in a storage facility on East Geer Street. Its social media pages include recent posts about hiring stylists, sharing photos of clients, advertising Black Friday specials and community giveaways.
A reporter called the number advertised on social media, and a woman who answered said she was Scaborough’s ex-wife. The woman said she is the owner of Bayos, a legitimate business.
The woman referred questions to her attorney, Bill Thomas, who couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
In 2008, Scarborough was convicted of three counts of trafficking a schedule I drug along with other drug charges. He was released from prison in December 2014, according to state documents.
In 1996, Scarborough was convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and involuntary manslaughter.
This story was originally published December 6, 2018 at 2:49 PM.