-From The Associated Press-

By The Associated Press

SANDUSKY, Mich. — Two Canadians have agreed to stay in jail after a valuable load of marijuana and ecstasy was shipped to Michigan’s Thumb region aboard a Cessna airplane.

Windsor, Ont.-area residents Matthew Moody and Jesse Rusenstrom are accused of picking up suitcases full of drugs after the Cessna landed Friday night at Sandusky City Airport.

Border agent T.J. Emerick followed the plane in a Blackhawk helicopter, then turned his attention and spotlight on a Toyota SUV.

Police on the ground caught Moody and Rusenstrom.

They appeared Monday in Detroit federal court and waived a detention hearing.

There was no comment from their lawyers. The marijuana and ecstasy are worth at least US$1 million. The drug-smuggling pilot escaped.

-from news-press.com-

Fort Myers police seized marijuana, crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia in two separate busts Friday.

The first was at Gulf Stream Isles apartments on Red Cedar Drive, where police recovered 218 grams of marijuana, four adult marijuana plants and 12 adolescent plans, along with drug paraphernalia. Police have issued a “pick-up request” for Walter Cole, 54, for manufacturing marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school.

A second bust on Sumter Drive resulted in the seizure of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia. Police arrested Derek Christmas, 21, on two charges: possession of cocaine with intent to distribute with 1,000 feet of a school, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Anyone with information about Cole’s whereabouts is asked to call Fort Myers police at 321-7700, Crime Stoppers at (800) 780-TIPS or send a text message to CRIMES (274637), using the keyword “FMPD.”

-from vancouversun.com-

By Katie Derosa

A sprawling team of police officers arrested eight people in early-morning raids across the region this morning, the product of a three-month undercover drug investigation.

Led by the Victoria police street crime unit, nearly 100 officers including two emergency response teams raided five locations in Saanich and the West Shore, seizing a large volume of drugs — mostly cocaine — firearms and cash, and arresting four men and four women, said Victoria police spokesman Sgt. Grant Hamilton.

Starting at 5 a.m., officers raided two properties in Colwood — a home in the 3600-block of Roberlack Road and a business in the Colwood Corners complex — one home in Langford in the 2600-block of Rainville Road and two homes in Saanich — in the 100-block of Regina and the 300-block of Burnside Road West.

Hamilton said the eight were involved in a large drug-trafficking operation, feeding cocaine into downtown Victoria and other parts of the region.

“It doesn’t matter where [the criminals] live, the drugs are trafficked downtown, they are sold downtown, they are used downtown.”

He said police will catalogue the evidence and release more information tomorrow.

The eight people are in custody but they have yet to be charged, Hamilton said, adding they are all known to police.

The drug operation is not tied to a specific organized gang, he said.

Searches are continuing, Hamilton said, and more illegal or stolen property could be seized.

Officers from the strike force unit, the regional crime unit, the RCMP’s combined special forces enforcement unit, Saanich police and West Shore RCMP assisted in the takedown, which Hamilton said could be one of the largest in the region.

Victoria police also brought in a tactical team to help with a raid on a home in the 3100-block of Quadra Street Saturday, which wrapped up a separate month-long drug investigation.

Officers seized 600 grams of dried marijuana, harvested from a grow-op in the home and with a street-level value of $5,000. They also seized six rifles, two crossbows, arrows, knives and ammunition.

The 34-year-old man arrested has a firearms licence for some of the guns but not others, Hamilton said.

The man is also registered as having two shotguns that are unaccounted for, which Hamilton said is concerning.

The man, and a 31-year-old woman who was also arrested, were released on a promise to appear in court Nov. 6.

-from wfrv.com-By Hilary Golston

Authorities arrested at least seven in an early morning drug bust.
It happened near the intersection of Doty and Webster just before 6 am. Four police units stormed four homes to execute 6 drug warrantsInside police say they found cocaine, marijuana, evidence of drug use and a large amount of cash.
Community police started investigating the houses about a month and a half ago - after they got a tip from someone living in the neighborhood.Neighbors said they suspected drug activity at the homes. Danielle Walton told Channel 5’s Hilary Golston that she bought her house about a year ago and lives right next to where the bust happened. “I’ve gone over to their house and asked them to quiet down a couple times,” Walton said. Danielle is happy authorities are working on the drug problem.
Community Policing Captain, Bill Galvin, says a drug problem in one area can easily spread if it’s not taken care of quickly. Galvin was on scene this morning and assisted with the bust.

-from kentucky.com-

By Jennifer Hewlett

Police arrested 15 people and were seeking seven others suspected of illegally selling drugs, mostly oxycodone, in Menifee County.

An official said that a lot of the pills involved came from Florida, and that the suspects were either going to Florida themselves to get them or knew someone who would.

The arrests followed an eight-month undercover investigation and came as a growing number of Kentuckians have traveled to Florida to obtain prescription drugs legally and then brought the drugs back to be sold by illegal traffickers in Kentucky.

The trips are made to escape the Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting system, which tracks who prescribes, dispenses and receives controlled drugs.

Kentucky doctors and officials have blamed the Florida pill pipeline for widespread drug addiction and overdose deaths.

The Florida General Assembly recently passed legislation authorizing a similar tracking system there.

By late afternoon, 15 of the suspects targeted by Operation UNITE (Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment & Education) had been charged and jailed in the Montgomery County Regional Detention Center.

The suspects and the charges against them (all are Frenchburg residents unless otherwise noted):

■ Sherry L. Bargo, 39, two counts of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance.

■ Brittany Caudill, 18, second-degree trafficking in a controlled substance.

■ Aldo Combs, 32, of Wellington, cultivating less than five plants of marijuana.

■ Eric L. Craig, 29, first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, trafficking in a controlled substance within 1,000 yards of a school, and second-degree persistent felony offender.

■ John Donathan, 24, first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance and first-degree persistent felony offender.

■ Sheronna Byrd Helton, 27, first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance and trafficking in a controlled substance within 1,000 yards of a school.

■ Misty Himes, 29, first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance.

■ Kenneth Jenkins, 34, first- and second-degree trafficking in a controlled substance.

■ Jimmie L. Jones, 23, trafficking in a controlled substance within 1,000 yards of a school.

■ Jeremy Martin, 23, first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance and second-degree persistent felony offender.

■ Franky L. Randall, 21, two counts of first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance.

■ Dustin A. Roberts, 26, first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance and second-degree trafficking in a controlled substance.

■ William H. Rowe, 42, first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance.

■ Anthony J. Wells, 24, first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance and second-degree persistent felony offender.

■ Thomas R. Wells, 29, of Frenchburg, first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance.

UNITE detectives and officers from the Menifee County sheriff’s office, the Kentucky Attorney General’s office and Kentucky State Police served the arrest warrants.

-from wciv.com-

By Josh Cascio

Producer Deidra Dunn

North Charleston -

By the looks of it, the suspects’ Grand Prix is like any other on the road, but looks can be deceiving according to the North Charleston Police Department. “This is one of the most unique ways that a courier brings drugs into the community that I’ve ever seen,” said Police Chief Jon Zumalt. While small compartments are common on most cars, police say the console held a hidden secret, a place to stash nearly 400 grams of heroin with a street value of about $200,000. “The console is the entry point, it was actually along what you would call the axle,” said Deputy Chief Reggie Burgess Caught on I-26 after making an illegal lane change, Naarl Richard and Kitia Coney are charged with Trafficking Heroin and Possession within a half mile of a school. Police call the bust one of the largest in the city’s history. ”This is cutting the head off the snake. Taking off a major supplier. This is a huge supply of heroin coming into our city and was going to be distributed in our city,” Chief Zumalt said. Described as a huge case, officers are hoping it serves as a clear deterrent to other suspected drug dealers, no matter how creative they think they are.

-from timesonline.com

By Bob Bauder

ROCHESTER — An investigation into what police have described as a drug den on Rochester’s Brighton Avenue led to the arrests of six people Saturday — three on drug charges and three on outstanding warrants.

Rochester police assisted by officers from Rochester Township converged on an apartment on the third floor of the Henderson Printing Building at 101 Brighton Ave. around 7:15 p.m.

Inside Apartment 1 they found five people, three of whom were charged with drug crimes.

Rickie Rudd, 53, who lives in the apartment, was charged with possession and possession with intent to deliver cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Richard Hoko, 36, of 605 Reno St., Rochester, was charged with possession of heroin and drug paraphernalia. Frank Cousar, 31, of 200 Lion Lane, Bridgewater, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.

The three were awaiting arraignment Saturday night.

Police also nabbed Christopher Boulding, 46, of 26 Seventh Ave., Freedom, and Jessica Dugas, 31, who has no known address. Boulding was wanted on a bench warrant issued in Butler County and Dugas on one issued in Beaver County. They are being held in the Beaver County Jail.

While officers were raiding the place, they found Terrence Cox, 41, of Apartment 3 in the same building, who was wanted on an arrest warrant from Bridgewater. Cox was turned over to Bridgewater police.

Rochester Police Officer Frank Mercier said police had received numerous calls about drug activity in the building.

Over the past month, he said, undercover operatives made two cocaine buys in Rudd’s apartment. They also observed numerous known drug users entering and leaving the building.

“This apartment is used as a crack house,” Mercier said. “It’s used by addicts, who go there and do their drugs.”

-from gbtribune.com-

By Susan Thacker

Security software built into a stolen laptop computer led police to a Hoisington residence on Tuesday. Authorities not only found the computer, but they also uncovered what appears to be a methamphetamine lab.

Detective Denton Doze at the Great Bend Police Department said the $9,000 computer, along with hand tools and power tools, was stolen during a burglary reported last Friday at the My Town project, 1419 Main Street.

The first time someone went online with the missing laptop, the manufacturer tracked it through the e-mail and notified police. Detective Doze got a search warrant for the residence of Dennis L. Price at 413 Maple Street in Hoisington. The Hoisington Police Department, including Chief Kenton Doze (the Great Bend detective’s brother), and the Barton County Sheriff’s Office were involved in executing the warrant. Their search began around 11 a.m. Tuesday.

“The computer was on the living room floor,” Detective. Doze said. During the search for the missing hand tools, suspected drugs were found and it was Hoisington Police Chief Kenton Doze’s turn to get a search warrant.

“We found what we suspected to be methamphetamine,” Chief Doze said. Hoisington got a third search warrant when officers found “what looks like the components of a meth lab.”

Price was booked into the Barton County Jail on charges of possession of ephedrine, drug manufacturing equipment and marijuana. He is being held in lieu of $300,000 bond.

As of Wednesday evening, the missing tools had not been accounted for.