60-year-old woman arrested in Woodfin during multi-agency drug raid

A search warrant executed at a Dryman Valley Road residence in Woodfin resulted in the arrest of 60-year-old Anna Marie Viruet-North and the seizure of trafficking quantities of methamphetamine and heroin, according to the Buncombe County sheriff’s office summary released to local outlets. Investigators also recovered numerous items of drug paraphernalia and an illegally possessed firearm from the home.

The sheriff’s office reported that the operation “stemmed from a collaboration between the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office IGRANT Unit.” The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Illegal Gun Reduction and Narcotics Task Force (IGRANT) executed the search warrant, with assistance from the Woodfin Police Department and the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit. WLOS published an account referencing a sheriff’s office press release that provided the initial inventory summary.

There is a discrepancy in public accounts over the precise weight of methamphetamine seized. One local report stated the haul included more than five pounds of methamphetamine, while the sheriff’s office summary as reported by WLOS described the items as “trafficking quantities of methamphetamine and heroin” without specifying a weight. The WLOS summary also does not specify whether cash was seized at the Dryman Valley Road home; an earlier headline asserted cash was seized but the press-release excerpt available to media did not confirm an amount.

Buncombe County deputies booked formal charges against Anna Marie Viruet-North. The charges listed by the sheriff’s office are trafficking in opium/heroin (fentanyl) by possession (Level III); trafficking in methamphetamine by possession (Level III); maintaining a dwelling for controlled substances; possession of drug paraphernalia; Possession with Intent to manufacture, sell, or deliver psilocybin (Schedule I); and possession of a firearm by a felon.

WLOS reported that Viruet-North “is now being held in the custody of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office in Tennessee.” The sheriff’s release did not explain the custody transfer in detail; booking paperwork, bond status, the prosecuting authority handling the charges, and the full property/evidence inventory have not been published in the material provided to local media.

For regional context, a separate and unrelated operation in Jackson County, Michigan, resulted in the seizure of roughly four pounds of crystal methamphetamines, over four and a half ounces of heroin, two pistols and $3,500 in cash after detectives with the Jackson Narcotics Enforcement Team executed multiple search warrants. That Michigan operation involved JNET, the Jackson County Violent Crimes Unit, the Michigan State Police Emergency Support Team and other regional narcotics partners and is distinct from the Buncombe County-Woodfin investigation.

Buncombe County officials described the Woodfin arrest and seizure as the product of interagency cooperation; the sheriff’s office press release and the full property inventory remain the primary documents to confirm exact drug weights, any cash seized and the next court dates for Viruet-North.