A Stuart man has been arrested following the largest methamphetamine seizure in the history of Patrick County. According to the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office, Mark Lucas Tatum, 48, was taken into custody by Patrick deputies on July 1st, during a covert investigation that spanned multiple jurisdictions.

Tatum was out on bond during the arrest for Felony Eluding Law Enforcement and was wearing a home electronic monitoring (HEM) GPS ankle bracelet ordered by the court. A Sergeant noticed that Tatum was more than 150 miles outside of Patrick County, in clear violation of HEM protocol.

The Narcotics Investigation Unit immediately began to coordinate with Virginia State Police narcotics agents in order to track Tatum’s movements.

“Because of Tatum’s history of reckless eluding, we had assembled a takedown team consisting of deputies, troopers and a K9 unit from the Martinsville Police Department to ensure that he (Tatum) would be removed from the highway, if he attempted to try and flee again,” the sheriff said in a Monday morning news release.

Tatum’s vehicle was stopped on Via’s Orchard Road just off of U.S. 58 and he was taken into custody without incident. Smith stated that more than seven pounds of suspected Methamphetamine and three ounces of Cocaine mixed with Fentanyl were seized during the take down.

The estimated street value of the drugs is $200,000. Tatum is being held without bond for violation of HEM protocol. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Virginia and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are also involved in the investigation, as the case will be prosecuted at the federal level.