-from thesudburystar.com-

A Sudbury woman is one of 14 people charged following a lengthy undercover investigation by Hearst OPP.

The investigation focused on infiltrating cocaine traffickers operating in the Hearst area. Police said that one of their undercover officers was successful infiltrating the drug ring and made several drug purchases.

The 14 people were charged with 80 drug-related offences. During the eight-month investigation, police seized and purchased 700 grams of cocaine, 275 grams of hashish, 125 grams of marijuana, 28 grams of magic mushrooms, 25 grams of ecstasy and 15 Oxycontin pills.

Police also seized two vehicles, $22,000 in cash, a money counting machine, a cocaine press and five rifles. Charges are pending against two other people.

Tammy Pullen of Sudbury is charged with one count of trafficking in a controlled substance.

The following Hearst residents are facing drug-related charges: Steven Lalonde, 34, Melanie Gamache, 22, Jean Noel Rodrique, 27, Norman Roy, 40, Christopher Charlebois, 31, Janet Dillon, 50, Sebastian Levasseur, 23 and Minnie Mattinas, 64.

-from wcax.com-

By Brian Joyce

Ten suspects are being held on high bail following a major drug bust in Rutland. Police moved quickly to make the bust after a series of shooting incidents with ties to New York City. The ten suspects were arrested Tuesday night in police raids at two city apartments that turned up a large stash of crack cocaine and cash. Seven of the suspects are from Brooklyn and three from Rutland. They range in age from 16 to 44.

Police say they learned about the drug operations a week ago after two shooting incidents on the street where no one was hit. But they moved quickly to make the raids Tuesday after a man who may have ties to the drug ring was shot and slightly wounded.

“We’re not gonna say for sure that they’re related. But by coincidence, the victim in the shooting night before last, is also from the Brooklyn area,” said Rutland Police Sgt. Kevin Stevens.

“Anyone who comes to Rutland with the intent to sell drugs and to bring their culture of violence, basically better bring their toothbrush because we’re going to send them to jail,” said Rutland City Mayor Christopher Louras. The suspects were ordered held on unusually high bail ranging from $60,000 to $500,000. For now, the police say the investigation continues and they have already made additional arrests and they expect to make more. There is also a possibility that some of the alleged drug dealers could end up in federal court where the penalties are much more severe. The police say at least three of the New York city suspects were reportedly packing pistols while dealing crack. However, police declined comment when asked if they found the guns.

-from calsun.canoe.ca-

By Doug McIntyre

Eight people are facing numerous charges after cops seized big drug caches in two separate busts in Calgary.

The first sting happened Nov. 15 when police entered a home in the 1900 block of Centre St. N. and arrested four people.

In addition to $101,000 in cash, police confiscated 92.5 grams of cocaine valued at $9,250 and 227.1 grams of marijuana valued at $2,271.

Cong Nguyen, 26, David Tran, 29, Alex Wong, 33, and Yen-Chen (Jenny) Huang, 25, were charged with one count each of possession of crack/cocaine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime.

Wong and Huang both face an additional charge of possession of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.

All four were released on bail and will appear in provincial court Dec. 7.

Four other people are also facing charges after police thwarted a trafficking ring in Vista Heights on Tuesday.

The raid on a home in the 2400 block of Vista St. N.E. unearthed nearly 1 kg of cocaine, valued at $90,000, 143 grams of marijuana worth $4,800 and 150 ecstasy tablets worth $1,500.

Also seized were a stolen motorcycle worth $5,000, a handgun, $2,000 in cash, electronic scales and packaging material.

Charged with multiple drug-related offences are Tyson Cornell Price, 28, Geoffrey Mandle, 26, Alexander Dean Jordan, 24, and Justin Elliot Booth, 24.

Mandle faces an additional charge of possession of a prohibited weapon.

-from kxan.com-

An undercover drug bust in Downtown Austin resulted in 40 arrests last week.

Police officers posed as drug dealers and buyers at East Sixth and Neches streets,

and by the end of the night, most of those arrested were taken in for buying and selling crack cocaine.

Though 32 felony and eight misdemeanor charges sound like a lot, police said the numbers were not unusual.

“This thing that occurred on Thursday the 15th is not a one-time good deal,” said Sgt. Richard Stresing of the Austin Police Department. “This is an ongoing operation that is conducted by the metrotactical unit to address narcotics concerns in certain parts of the city of Austin.”

The metrotactical unit has been targeting the downtown area for illegal drug use, specifically at Sixth and Neches streets.

Business owners in the area said they see drug activity right outside their stores.

“It’s a huge problem, and it’s really nice to know that the cops are doing something about it, because most of the time I don’t see the fruits of their labor,” said Ashley Avey of Aaron’s Rock & Roll.

Those who work in the downtown area said the crack problem centers on the homeless population, and the situation has not improved.

“Usually when people are arrested down here, they get back out the very next day, so I just kind of wonder what’s going to happen after they’re arrested,” Avey said.

Officers would not talk about specifics in the bust but said they have been targeting the entire downtown area to crack down on narcotics, prostitution and gangs.

-from wate.com-

By Hana Kim

CLAIBORNE COUNTY (WATE) — Two men and two women are in custody Friday in a bust of the largest meth lab ever found in Claiborne County.

The suspects are Charlisa Monday, Jody Phillips, Sharon Owens and Stephen Pebley.

The lab was found shortly before 5:00 a.m., in a home in a secluded area of Owen Lane. That’s near Highway 63, about 10 miles outside of LaFollette.

One member of the Southeast Meth Taskforce described it as the largest lab he’d ever seen.

Officers say they’ll probably be on the scene for most of Friday because they have a lot of dangerous products to deal with.

The officers say they caught the suspects cooking meth. Some of the finished product was sitting on top of the stove. They confiscated a total of seven grams.

Also, a gas generator was thrown outside by one of the suspects the bust so it wouldn’t explode inside.

Claiborne County Sheriff David Ray says the suspects and his officers had to be decontaminated before they left the scene.

-from witntv.com-

Nine arrests, thousands of dollars and guns are all the result of a six month effort by the Martin County Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities spent the morning cleaning up the streets carrying out a major drug roundup. Nine people were arrested during the exchange early Tuesday morning at one Jamesville residence. Charges ranged from possession with intent to sell to drug trafficking. Sheriff’s officials say it’s a problem that’s gone on too long.

There are a few more outstanding arrest warrants from the roundup. Sheriff Dan Biggs says ridding the streets of drug dealers is something he campaigned on very diligently.

-from nj.com-

By Charles Hack

UNION CITY - Police collared two drug dealers in separate busts since last Thursday, police reports said.

On Saturday, detectives near 16th Street and Bergenline Avenue searched a 17-year-old Jersey City resident holding a “Philly Blunt” marijuana-stuffed cigar at about 11:30 p.m., police said.

Police said they found 39 small bags of suspected marijuana and $241 in cash on the teen. The boy was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession within a school zone, reports said. He was being held at the Hudson County Juvenile Detention Center pending a court appearance.

On Thursday, narcotics detectives and the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Municipal Task Force searched a home on 17th Street and a 2004 Lexus ES300 just after 9 p.m. and recovered seven plastic bags of cocaine and $4,300 in cash, police said.

Paulino Guzman-Fernandez, 27, of Village Place in Secaucus, was charged with 16 counts of drug offenses, including possession with intent to distribute, police said. He is being held at the Hudson County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, officials said.

-from tennessean.com-

By Mitchell Kline

FRANKLIN — Law enforcement officers arrested 13 suspected drug dealers this morning during a roundup centered in Franklin.

Prosecutors in Williamson County had obtained indictments charging 19 people with selling or distributing drugs. In a joint effort — dubbed Operation Stuffed Turkey — officers from the Franklin Police Department, the U.S. Marshal Service, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Brentwood Police Department began serving warrants this morning. Officers started knocking on doors and making arrests before 6 a.m., catching some suspected dealers sleeping. By 10 a.m., a total of 13 people were taken into custody and brought to the police station to be fingerprinted, photographed and escorted to the Williamson County jail.

Twelve teams of three to six officers and agents fanned out before sunrise to begin arresting suspects at mostly residential addresses in cities including Franklin, Brentwood, Columbia, Eagleville and Nashville. Many of the indictments were for the sale of cocaine, but other indictments were for the sale of marijuana and Ecstasy.