Teacher led double life as drug trafficker, NC cops say. Bond set at $3 million

A middle school teacher led a very different life as a drug trafficker in her off time, according to investigators in North Carolina.

Saadia Marie-Denise Owen, 32, was arrested Wednesday, June 25, in Rowan County during an investigation led by the Guilford County Narcotics Task Force, officials said.

“At the time of the arrest, Owen was a teacher at Southern Guilford Middle School (in) Greensboro,” the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office reported in a June 26 news release.

“She is currently being held under a secured bond of $3 million in the Rowan County Detention Center.”

The school’s website reports Owen was an English teacher for grades 6 through 8.

She resigned “effective June 25,” the district told McClatchy News. She had been a general curriculum teacher since January 2016, officials said.

Owen is charged with trafficking heroin or opium and maintaining a dwelling or vehicle for the keeping or selling of controlled substances, Rowan County jail records show.

Details of the investigation were not released.

A 37-year-old man was also arrested during the roundup and charged with fentanyl trafficking, but detectives did not report any link to the arrest of Owen. He is also charged with maintaining a vehicle/dwelling for keeping or selling of controlled substances, officials said.

Southern Guilford Middle School has an enrollment of about 600 students in grades six through eight, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Greensboro is about a 75-mile drive northwest from Raleigh.

The Guilford County Narcotics Task Force is a partnership between the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office, Greensboro Police Department, N.C. State Bureau of Investigation and federal Drug Enforcement Administration, officials said.

This story was originally published June 27, 2025 at 7:37 AM with the headline "Teacher led double life as drug trafficker, NC cops say. Bond set at $3 million."