-from clearwatertimes.com-

By Robert Mangelsdorf

Half a million dollars of suspected drug money is off the streets after a bust last Monday by Clearwater RCMP.

RCMP stopped a black 2005 Cadillac heading southbound on the Yellowhead Highway as part of a routine CounterAttack roadblock around 3 a.m. Monday morning. After detecting the odor of marijuana, the car was searched and officers found $500,000 in mixed bills filling the trunk of the car as well as a duffel bag.

“When you have an odor of marijuana in the car and the driver has that much money it’s very suspicious,” said Clearwater RCMP Cpl. Mike Savage. “Who do you know who walks around with that kind of cash.”

Savage wouldn’t comment on whether or not drugs were found in the vehicle.

The driver of the vehicle, 22-year-old Tony Tran of Edmonton, Alberta, is out on bail and will appear in court in Clearwtaer in October on charges of possessing the proceeds of crime. If convicted he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The bust itself was made by Cst. Eric Thompson, a junior member with the force for only seven months.

The bust came just six months after a similar incident in March when a Clearwater RCMP roadblock netted $630,000 in cash, as well as a handgun, from a 2002 Chrysler Sebring travelling southbound on the Yellowhead Highway.

“Clearly there are members of organized crime using our highway,” Savage said. “The more seizures we can make, the better we can disrupt these operations that further their illegal activities.”

The RCMP believe criminals from Edmonton are driving to Vancouver with the large amounts of cash to buy drugs. Their route brings them right through Clearwater.

However, as large as these busts are, officials admit they are just the tip of the iceberg.

Savage said stopping this flow of illegal substances on the highway is a major priority for the detachment.

“We’re out there doing more than just writing tickets,” he said. “We’re trying to make the highways safe and that means stopping the criminals who are using the highway.”

-from rapidcityjournal.com-

By The Associated Press

U.S Highway 281 gets scrutiny in drug war

HURON — The well-traveled interstate highways in South Dakota aren’t the only roads getting attention as drug transportation routes.

Beadle and Brown counties are among 74 counties in the government’s High- Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas in the Midwest because of U.S. Highway 281.

“It’s not a major artery; it gets them off the interstate, and I think that’s why it was identified as a route because, it does get the traffic, and it’s a great alternate north-south route rather than using Interstate 29,” said Beadle County State’s Attorney Mike Moore.

In May, the Department of Justice issued strategic overview of the illicit drug situation in the High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, or HIDTA, in six Midwest states.

HIDTA regions were established in the early 1990s to identify areas where it is believed illegal drugs are being transported in high quantities.

The Midwest HIDTA counties are in the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri and are connected an extensive transportation infrastructure.

Most major interstate highways in the northern United States pass through an intersect in the six-state region.

Law enforcement agencies working the high-trafficking routes receive federal funding for added patrols and officers trained on what to look for in their drug interdiction efforts, Moore said.

Drug dogs are based in Brown and Davison counties, and Beadle County has a drug agent working for the state Division of Criminal Investigation.

The Justice Department assessment said drug traffickers use South Dakota as an indirect route to other markets.

The Highway Patrol has reported numerous drug seizures on Interstate 90, particularly in the western part of the state.

-from kfvs12.com-

By Arnold Wyrick

UNION COUNTY, Ill. - Drug task force agents in Union County moved in on the marijuana growing operation just before sunrise Friday morning. Once they got inside they found exactly what they were looking for, one of the largest illegal drug operations to date.

“We took more than 150-cannibis plants off the property. You’re looking at probably a $1,000 each for the mature plants. And we also recovered some weapons from the residence. So that’s going to be separate charges,” said Union County Sheriff David Livesay.

The huge drug bust comes on the heels of months of investigative work by the Union County Sheriff’s office, the Anna Police Department and the Jonesboro Police Department in conjunction with the Jackson County Safe House program.

“We’ve had an ongoing investigation for several months here over the summer of some illegal activity in the rural Cobden area, in reference to this marijuana growing operation,” Sheriff Livesay said.

While police won’t release the exact location of the drug operation, they have released the names of two people arrested at the home.

They’ve been identified as 32-year-old Kenneth Pearson and 28-year-old Courtney Ross, both of Cobden. Both suspects face criminal charges of unlawful possession of cannabis, unlawful production of cannabis, and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia.

“This is an ongoing investigation and we expect to make even more arrests in connection to this case in the days ahead. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law,” Sheriff Livesay said.

-from kjct8.com-

By kjct8 Staff

bout 11pm last night Mesa County Sheriff’s Deputies pulled over a car for a driving violation. The people inside were questioned then arrested for alleged drug related crimes.

Throughout the night two more similar stops were made ultimately resulting in three more arrests. Information gathered by officers then lead them to 2983 ½ Bret Drive.

According to arrest affidavits two of the traffic stops were made after cars were seen leaving that address. A search warrant for that home was executed about 4am this morning leading to one more arrest.

The six suspects have been identified Christine Crosby and Vicki Thurston both from Clifton, and Matthew Peltier of Grand Junction. As well as Sherry Lovato and Suzanne Mceachern of Montrose and Dolores Kirk of Grand Junction the resident of the home on Bret Drive.

-from saratogian.com-

By Jim Kinney

SARATOGA SPRINGS - A Saratoga Springs man who police said had 15 pounds of marijuana with him when state Park Police stopped him for not wearing his seat belt on The Avenue of the The Pines had another four pounds of marijuana and two stashes of cocaine back at his house, according to court documents.
State Park Police pulled over Jay R. Tucker, 56, of 9 Hathorn Blvd., at about 8 a.m. Tuesday. It turned out that Tucker had a warrant from Schenectady. Later, a Saratoga Springs Police dog sniffed out the drugs in the car and police found 15 pounds of marijuana in 15 1-gallon plastic baggies, according to court documents.
State Park Police and city police got a search warrant and went to Tucker’s home where they found four more 1-gallon plastic bags each with a pound of marijuana inside.
There they also found 3.3 ounces of cocaine in a kitchen cabinet, also according to court papers. Police also found about a tenth of one ounce of cocaine in Tucker’s garage, according to court papers.
The total value of the marijuana is greater than $81,000. The cocaine is worth $8,500 on the street.
Tucker faces one count of first-degree criminal possession of marijuana with intent to sell, one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
He was sent to Saratoga County Jail without bail.

-from wbay.com-

By Sarah Thomsen

Hoping to crack down on drug trafficking, the Green Bay Police Department is shifting officers to target a narrow section of the city’s west side.

For the past year-and-a-half, two-officer impact teams have targeted whole neighborhoods in the city looking for minor violations in hopes of preventing bigger ones.

Green Bay police just started their last neighborhood sweep of the summer but officers are changing their strategy to focus more on drugs and arrest warrants. Now the impact teams are shifting their attention to Ashland Avenue.

As a main corridor into Green Bay, police say it only makes sense someone smuggling drugs into the city would drive down Ashland, so impact teams are targeting any and all traffic violations on Ashland since they say traffic stops often result in drug busts.

“We find a lot of people when we stop them and run them. They’ve got warrants on them or we find that they’ve got drugs in their car, or when we go to take them into custody on a warrant we find drugs on them or weapons,” Captain Bill Galvin said.

Last summer, only about 15 percent of the people impact teams made contact with were from outside the area. So far this year, almost 25 percent are visitors.

“We get drug tips, and a lot of times these drug tips come from concerned neighbors, they send us [license] plates, and we run the plates and they come back to out-of-area residence who are coming up here either with product or they’re coming up here to buy product or drop it off,” Galvin said.

Captain Galvin said there is no way to prove at this time that Ashland is a drug corridor but he thinks targeting this new zone will help determine that.

Police said they’re not targeting visitors. Instead they want anyone who violates any traffic laws.

“Maybe that guy we stop in the car and pick up on a warrant was planning on doing a dope deal later in the afternoon or may have been involved in a battery or homicide or something else next week, but he can’t do that because we impacted him now.”

The impact teams will be in this new zone until next month.

-from democratandchronicle.com-

By Claudia Vargas

Four Monroe County and two Orleans County residents were arrested Monday night in Kendall for allegedly possessing over an ounce of cocaine and other drug paraphernalia such as marijuana.

After a month-long investigation, the Orleans County Major Felony Crime Task Force and the Sheriff’s Department stopped the two vehicles the six suspects were traveling in and searched the residence of one of the suspects. The search warrant was executed at 1595 Kendall Rd. in Kendall.

During the search warrant, police seized more than an ounce of cocaine, more than $1,000 in cash, a 12-gage shotgun and other drug paraphernalia.

The following people were arrested under multiple charges, including criminal sale and possession of controlled substances:

Willie K. Bell, 20, of Greece
Anthony L. Cerroni, 18, of Greece
Seth A. Luce, 26, of Kendall
Amber E. Healy, 20, of Greece
Deanna C. Glenn, 33, of Webster
Dustin Herzog, 19, of Waterport

Bell, Cerroni and Luce were arraigned and being held at Orleans County Jail in lieu of $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond. Healey was arraigned and being held at Orleans County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 bond. Glenn was arraigned and being held at Orleans County Jail in lieu of $1,000 cash bail or $2,000 bond. Herzog was released on an appearance ticket and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Further arrests and charges are pending, according to the crime task force.

-from news10now.com-

By Web Staff

BROOME COUNTY, N.Y. — Two people have been arrested in separate drug busts in Binghamton and Endicott. Jamie Birtch, 30, of Binghamton and Jeffrey Buie-Brown, 18, of Endicott are both charged with multiple counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance. Police say they recovered about five grams of crack-cocaine and cash from both investigations. Buie-Brown was arraigned and is being held in Broome County Jail, while Birtch will be arraigned Wednesday in city court.