-from timescall.com-

LONGMONT — Police arrested a Longmont couple Sunday on suspicion of growing marijuana after the officers came out to investigate a domestic violence call.

Police said they found evidence of two grow rooms inside the couple’s home on the 2800 block of Humbolt Place, as well as more than 8 ounces of freshly harvested marijuana. The officers originally came after a report that the wife had hit her husband’s hand with a hammer on Saturday and then scratched him Sunday.

According to Sgt. Tim Lewis of the police, the home had electric wiring that was a fire hazard as well as a number of improperly-stored acids and bases. Lewis said that the chemicals were owned legally by the husband, whose occupation was given as a brewer and chemist.

According to the police report, the couple is suspected of of marijuana cultivation and possession of more than 8 ounces of marijuana (a felony), as well as two counts of child abuse for having their 5-year-old daughter in an unsafe house with improperly-stored chemicals.

The wife is also suspected of domestic violence, false imprisonment and second-degree assault, while the husband faces charges of possessing a handgun while selling marijuana, according to police.

Water-line flushing continues this week

Longmont city workers will continue to flush water lines this week.

Residents should limit their water use during the flush and especially avoid using hot water, according to the city.

Monday through Friday, crews will be working in these areas:

Between Airport Road, Main Street, 17th Avenue and Ninth Avenue.

Between Main Street, County Line Road, 17th Avenue and Ninth Avenue.

Between Sunset Street, Martin Street, Pike Road and Plateau Road.

Between First Avenue, Plateau Road, South Fordham Street and Sunset Street.

How will you spend your stimulus check?

Federal rebate checks start going out May 2. More than 130 million households will receive so-called economic stimulus payments: as much as $600 for eligible individuals and $1,200 for married couples.

The Times-Call wants to know how you plan to spend your money. Are you going to buy that widescreen high-definition TV you’ve been drooling over? Or are you going to throw the money at a credit card balance?

-from canada.com-

Police say several thousand dollars worth of cocaine is off the street after a drug bust and two arrests at a local hotel.

RCMP Cpl. Scott Wilson said an ongoing investigation led to a search warrant being executed at the Rendezvous Hotel last week.

Officers with the drug and gang section and the Kamloops Action Response Team arrested a 43-year-old female employee for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, he said.

A 26-year-old male customer was also arrested for obstructing a police officer during an investigation.

Both were released on a promise to appear in Kamloops Provincial Court in June.

The Rendezvous has been the focus of police activity in the past. In March 2007, an emergency response team nabbed two alleged gang members outside the hotel in a takedown.

Wilson said there is nothing to indicate last week’s arrests have anything to do with organized crime.

“There is drug activity that happens in nightclubs and bars, and sometimes it is linked to organized crime.

“But I haven’t been given any information that there is a gang connection [at the Rendezvous],” he said.

Cactus Jack’s Saloon owner Pete Backus wasn’t surprised to hear about the bust. He said the drug trade is a problem every bar owner must deal with.

He wants to a see a Bar Watch program set up in Kamloops to help owners keep narcotics out of their establishments.

The program — a joint agreement between the owner, the RCMP and the city — puts the onus on police to come in and remove anyone suspected of dealing drugs, said Backus.

“This way I don’t have to worry about a fight on my street or retaliation,” he said.

Rendezvous owner Chris Rae called the bust police harassment, saying she had to close the bar for the night because RCMP scared away her customers.

She refused to answer questions about her employee or any drug activity at the establishment.

-from tribune-democrat.com-

By Sandra K. Reabuck

EBENSBURG — In one of Cambria County’s largest drug investigations, which culminated Wednesday, authorities have arrested about 60 suspected drug dealers during the last 2½ weeks, District Attorney Patrick Kiniry announced.

They are accused of trafficking in heroin, crack cocaine, powdered cocaine and prescription drugs, mainly OxyContin, throughout the county.

During the various raids and arrests, officers seized illegal drugs with a street value of $30,000, about $7,000 in cash and one stolen firearm, the district attorney said.

Warrants are out for the arrests of 11 more people, Kiniry said at a news conference at the county courthouse.

While the arrests may make “a dent” in drug trafficking, Kiniry said that others soon would be on the streets filling the void.

“This is a never-ending battle,” he said. “There’s never a day you can’t buy (illegal) drugs in Cambria County.”

Kiniry was joined by state Attorney General Tom Corbett, who said dealing of prescription drugs is on the upswing not only in Cambria County but statewide.

Corbett said his office now will have investigators working closely with the county drug task force, which is under the jurisdiction of the DA.

Cambria also will be part of the Central Region because much of the trafficking flows between Altoona and Cambria County, he said.

Kiniry said the first raid was April 7, when three dealers were taken into custody at a Grove Avenue house in Johnstown’s Moxham section. Cocaine with a street value of more than $12,000 was seized along with $1,200 in cash, he said.

One of the defendants, Caron Howling, was described by Kiniry as a high-level dealer responsible for distributing tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of cocaine a month in Greater Johnstown.

On April 10, the task force and Richland Township police arrested four people at the Richland Motel. Police believe they were selling heroin from a motel room.

Four days later, April 14, Dorian “Doe-Doe” Stephens and James Jamel “Gotti” Blocken were arrested in the city on charges of selling both crack and powder. Stephens was identified as a high-level dealer.

On April 15, Cirilito “C” Cheatham, considered a high-level dealer of crack cocaine, was arrested in Johnstown.

From that arrest, three others were taken into custody – Rogelin “Roe” Lopez, also described as a high-level drug dealer of cocaine, Melody Harris and Myra Coleman.

Kiniry estimated that Lopez and Cheatham were dealing $1,000 worth of crack a week in the city’s Moxham and Hornerstown areas.

As a result of those arrests, officers searched a house in the 700 block of Highland Avenue in Johnstown, where $1,000 in cash and crack cocaine with a street value of $1,000 was seized.

The next raid was Monday, when Shy Tyquan Lawton, who allegedly trafficked in crack cocaine, was arrested in the Oakhurst Homes area.

The next day, officers arrested Brian Dupirack, described as a high-level dealer of heroin in the Lilly-Portage area. He was supplying more than $1,000 worth of heroin a day, Kiniry said.

The arrests also included suspects believed to be dealing in $5,000 worth of heroin and pills in Ebensburg, Nanty Glo, Northern Cambria and Fallentimber.

Most of the suspects were taken into custody early Wednesday in raids carried out by county drug task force officers, local and state police, FBI agents, sheriff’s deputies, probation officers and investigators from the state Attorney General’s Office.

Who’s accused

The following individuals were rounded up in connection with the April drug bust that ended Wednesday. Names follow place of residence:

Johnstown: David Adolph,

Darwin Askew, James Blocken, Jabber Brown, Michael Byrd, Cirilito Cheatham, Myra

Coleman, Norris Collins, Terri Fyock, Nathan Gamble, John Hardison, Hope Harris, Melody Harris, Aleasha Hoffman, Adam Hoke, Caron Howling, Damian Jeffers, P.J. King Sr., P.J. King, Cheryl Kirsch, Thomas Krieger, Shy Tyquon Lawton, Rogelin Lopez, Justin Love, Averi McCall, Mckenneth McDaniel, Alicia

Morris, Donna Munoz, William Nelson, Jerome Rozier, Amber Russell, Larry Shaw, Andrea Sherman, Michael Simms, Carrie Smith, Tyrone Smith, Dorian Stephens, Amy Lyn Stephens and John Taylor.

Mineral Point: Eric Buck.

South Fork: Robert Clifford.

Fallentimber: Robert Cochran.

Gallitzin: Ken Crilley, Shawn Hayes and Mark Wilt.

Windber: John Davis, Keri Lysinger and Jason Russell.

Revloc: Doug Delozier and

Shawna Delozier.

Lilly: Brian Dupirack.

Nanty Glo: Scott Fulton and Jon Litzinger.

Ebensburg: Adam Grove, Christine Ledger, James McClean, Brad Younkin and Caleb Younkin.

Hooversville: Shayna Jarin.

Vintondale: Erick Melius.

Davidsville: Tim Miller.

Homer City: Stacy Turner.

-from azstarnet.com-

By Brady McCombs

Arizona Daily Star

The agent attempted to stop the truck, but the driver turned north onto another dirt road and continued north for another half-mile before pulling into the desert and bailing out. He ran into the desert.

-from

By Tom Alex

Des Moines police narcotics officers said Monday that an investigation wrapped up over the weekend produced four arrests, 110 pounds of marijuana, 2 pounds of cocaine and about $106,000 in cash.

The street value of the drugs was estimated at $371,000.

Some of the drug cache was found in a false gas tank on one of three vehicles that also were seized, police said.

Authorities said the operation sold about 800 pounds of marijuana per month from a house at 4035 Indianola Road.

Charged are:

• Ramiro Duran-Flores, 33, of Englewood, Colo.

• Jose Ortega, 36, of Burlington, Colo.

• Kevin Watts, 54, of Stewartville, Minn.

• Shannek Darnell Young, 29, who listed an address in the 1700 block of Washington Avenue.

Watts allegedly was in Des Moines to buy drugs, police said, and Duran and Ortega allegedly brought the drugs into the city.

Maj. David Lillard said Des Moines officers received a tip which led to the investigation. Using information developed in Des Moines, authorities with a drug task force in Minnesota went to Watts’ home in Stewartville with a search warrant. An additional 14 pounds of suspected marijuana and $12,000 in cash were found there, police said.

Investigations in Colorado and Minnesota continue, officials said.

-from eveningsun.com-

Eleven people were in custody Friday on drug charges following an investigation into the dealing of heroin, cocaine and marijuana throughout Adams County, according to District Attorney Sean Wagner.

Seven suspects remained at large Friday, Wagner said.

Police seized 16 grams of heroin and more than $1,200 in cash from the New Oxford home of Cory E. Topper, age unknown, who was arrested for allegedly making two sales of heroin.

Also arrested for allegedly selling heroin were a Hanover man, David Sargent, 22, and Michael L. Shindledecker, 27, of Ortanna.

Wagner said he was especially concerned about the sale of heroin.

“Of all the drugs we see abused in Adams County, heroin is the most dangerous, given its addictive nature and the potential for fatal overdose,” he said in a press release.

Wagner said the investigation by State Police and the Adams County Drug Task Force centered around cocaine dealing in Gettysburg and cocaine and heroin sales in eastern Adams County. Several of those arrested were not from the area and police alleged they were responsible for bringing large quantities of drugs into the area. One suspect, Andre D. Butler, 29, is from Washington, D.C., and allegedly brought drugs to Adams County from Baltimore, Wagner said. Butler was arrested April 11 after he allegedly delivered about one ounce of cocaine to an undercover officer.

An other of the suspects arrested, Wagner said, was an illegal alien, Carlos M. Ramos, 25, of McSherrystown, who was allegedly selling large quantities of cocaine in New Oxford and Conewago Township. The district attorney said police seized money, firearms and a vehicle from Ramos.Also in custody on various drug charges were: Thomas W. Barnett, 19, of Greenwich, Conn.; Vanessa A. Cullison, 29, of Gettysburg; Joshua M. Spencer, 18, address unknown; Timothy A. Stotsky Jr. 18, of Hanover; Leroy Tyler, 63, of Gettysburg; and Carol Williams, 34, address unknown, according to the district attorney’s office.

Arrest warrants on drug charges were also issued for Craig A. Hill, 19, of Gettysburg; Tony J. Kuhn, 33, address unknown; Michael S. Lamont, 19, of New Oxford; Michael Rector, 24, of Harrisburg; Michael A. Spence, 27, of Westminster, Md.; Bradley T. Thompson, 24, of Abbottstown; and Wayne Williams, 39, of Gettysburg, according to the DA’s office.

Wagner said police from Carroll Valley, Gettysburg, Littlestown and McSherrystown, and Conewago and Cumberland townships participated in the investigation.

-from canada.com-

Five people made their first appearances in Regina Provincial Court on Friday, charged in connection with a drug bust that occurred in Regina on Thursday.

Van Binh Cam, 36, Chun Yung Li, 35, Lucy Liu, 34, Jason Ng, 36, and Patrick Pak Hong Yeung, 30, are each facing conspiracy and drug charges in relation to the investigation.

Cam and Liu are each charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, possession of marijuana and two counts of producing marijuana. Li and Ng are each charged with conspiracy, three counts of possession of marijuana, four counts of theft over $5,000, three counts of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, and three counts of marijuana production.

Yeung is charged with conspiracy, three counts of possession of marijuana, four counts of theft over $5,000, three counts of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, and two counts of producing marijuana.

Following their appearance, Cam, from Saskatoon, and Liu, from Calgary, were released on undertakings. Among conditions were that they surrender their passports, submit to searches up to three times per month and report to police once per week in their respective cities. Their charges will be back before the court on May 8.

The Crown opposed the release of the other three individuals. Their charges were set over until Monday for a possible bail hearing.

A Regina Police Service spokeswoman said an investigation led members of the Regina Integrated Drug Unit and the Integrated Proceeds of Crime section to conduct searches of four Regina residences and one business on Thursday.

Those searches were at locations on Gelsinger Place, McDonald Street, Hammstrom Way, Robinson Street and Staff Crescent. The specific location of the business was not readily available on Friday.

-from ktvb.com-

By KTVB News

BOISE — Ada County deputies, fire, paramedics and Hazmat teams are on location at a reported meth lab bust in SW Boise.

About 7:15 p.m. Friday, Ada Co. SWAT teams entered the home in the 5000 block of Dakota, near South Cole and Amity.

Four adults have been taken into custody and transported to the Ada Co. Sheriff’s Office.

Three children were present in the house at the time of the raid; they’ve been taken to an area hospital as a precaution.

No one was injured in the arrest.

Police say methamphetamine was reportedly being cooked in the garage and kitchen, and cleanup operations are being carried out by hazardous materials personnel.