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Martinsville police executed a narcotics search warrant Wednesday afternoon at an apartment building on Booker Road near Patrick Henry Mall, marking the department’s second recent drug-related search warrant in the neighborhood, Police Chief Chad Rhoads said.

The search began around 4 p.m. Oct. 28 as investigators continued efforts to disrupt suspected drug activity ahead of the opening of the MHC Warming Center at its new location at Soul Winners Ministries Inc., 704 Church St. E.

The center is scheduled to open for the season Nov. 16.

“We’re trying to get all these places we know sell drugs shut down as quickly as we can,” Rhoads told Luis Romero at the scene.

The search follows a similar operation last Wednesday, Oct. 21, at a home in the 600 block of Watt Street.

Rhoads said that investigation involved suspected drug sales and the recovery of drugs and firearms.

Authorities had not completed Wednesday’s search at the Booker Road apartment at the time of the interview.

Rhoads said investigators expected to find narcotics and that firearms also could be recovered.

Rhoads said the two locations are within walking distance of each other and that investigators know both were being used to sell narcotics.

However, he said police had not established whether the cases were connected.

“We want to give the warming shelter the best possible chance to succeed,” Rhoads said.

He added that the department’s broader goal remains addressing drug activity throughout Martinsville, while emphasizing the importance of maintaining a safe environment for people who will use the center.

Rhoads said the investigations are ongoing and that search warrants typically represent one stage of a larger investigative process.

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Source note: Star News TV · Oct 28, 2026 8:05 PM.