BOSTON, April 26, 2013—A South Boston man was arraigned earlier this month on charges he ditched more than 3,000 prescription painkillers on a New York to Boston bus, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

GREGORY HORNE (D.O.B.  5/21/81) of South Boston was arraigned April 11 in Boston Municipal Court on a charge of trafficking in a Class B substance.  Assistant District Attorney Neil Flynn requested Horne be held on $250,000 bail.  Judge Patricia Bernstein set bail at $5,000, which Horne had posted prior to arraignment.

According to prosecutors, members of the MBTA Transit Police accompanied by a drug-sniffing dog performed a check of luggage on a Lucky Star bus that originated from New York after it arrived at South Station just before 9:00 p.m. on April 3.  Upon informing passengers of the reason for the officers’ presence, police immediately noted that Horne became visibly nervous and began frantically using his phone, prosecutors said.

While the search was under way, Horne allegedly moved to the rear of the bus and began fidgeting with his backpack. No drugs were detected in the luggage from the undercarriage of the bus and passengers began to exit. For his part, Horne allegedly lingered in a rear seat looking out the window with an expression of concern.  When he did leave the bus, he allegedly avoided eye contact with the officers and ignored their pleasantries as he disembarked.

Transit Police made a sweep of the bus, paying particular attention to the sixth seat from the back, to where Horne had moved. They found a sealed, overstuffed Skittles bag on the floor in that area, prosecutors said.  Instead of rainbow-colored sweets, however, the bag was found to contain 3,200 30mg Oxycodone pills.

Horne had left the area by that time, but his image was captured by surveillance cameras.  Those images – including photos of Horne’s distinct hand tattoos – were circulated by the Boston Regional Intelligence Center and soon led to Horne’s identification, prosecutors said.

Police arrested Horne at his place of employment on April 10.  Upon his arrest, he made post-Miranda statements identifying himself from surveillance images, prosecutors said.

Horne was represented by Lisa Grant.  He will return to court June 19.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.