Nye County deputies find meth, mushrooms, stolen four-wheeler at Tonopah business

Nye County deputies said a search at a Tonopah business on the town’s Main Street uncovered a cache of illegal drugs and stolen property inside 484 Main St., a location that sits squarely in the county seat’s visible commercial center. Investigators reported seizing about 78 grams of methamphetamine, 28 grams of suspected psilocybin mushrooms and a stolen four-wheeler as part of an ongoing Nye County Sheriff’s Office drug-sales investigation.

The business owner, Chet Teel, was not on site when deputies served the warrant. Deputies later located Teel and arrested him at the business the next day, extending the case beyond the initial search and signaling that investigators were still building their evidence after leaving the property.

The seizure carries unusual weight in Tonopah, a historic mining town founded after Jim Butler discovered silver there on May 19, 1900. With a current population of about 2,500, the town’s Main Street functions as a highly visible public corridor rather than a hidden back lane, so any drug and stolen-property case tied to a storefront can ripple through how people view the area’s business district. Tonopah is also the county seat of Nye County, a county that had 51,591 residents in the 2020 census and an estimated 57,336 by July 1, 2025.

Nevada’s controlled-substances rules list psilocybin among Schedule I drugs, and the 78 grams of methamphetamine reported in the search may matter as prosecutors decide how to charge the case. Under Nevada law, trafficking thresholds for certain controlled substances begin at 100 grams, though final charging decisions depend on the full evidence and the judgment of prosecutors, not just the weight recovered in one search.

The sheriff’s office said the investigation remains active, and the recovered four-wheeler adds another layer to a case that already crossed from suspected drug sales into stolen property. In a town where the main business strip is a daily part of life for residents and travelers passing through central Nevada, the search at 484 Main St. puts public safety and business trust directly in the same frame.