Articles Posted in Drug Possession

On Wednesday January 28, an Albuquerque woman made a costly mistake when she dialed a number on her phone and tried to sell the person who answered heroin and cocaine, according to a recent news article at the NY Daily News. 30-year-old Renea Lucero thought she was dialing one of her buyers, but instead she mistakenly dialed the cell phone number of a detective with the Albuquerque Police Department.

Lucero was not aware she was talking to someone with law enforcement when she asked if he wanted to buy any narcotics. The detective didn’t give himself away; instead, he agreed to meet Lucero and called for backup to help with an undercover sting so that police could nab Lucero.

The officers involved in the sting wore civilian clothes to the meeting, where the suspect allegedly pulled a baggie from her bra; it contained heroin, according to the report. She then handed the baggie to Luciano Navarro, her driver, who weighed out the drug and sold it to the officer for $30.

On Saturday January 24, a drug bust in Ivey located in Wilkinson County, GA resulted in the arrest of two individuals, 32-year-old Amanda Helms, and 57-year-old Herman Bill Hendricks, Helms’s uncle, according to a news article at 13WMAZ.com. At the time of news reports, a third suspect, 51-year-old Cynthia Mixon, could not be located.

According to an Ocmulgee Drug Task Force news release, authorities had been investigating the sale of prescription drugs including oxycodone for about a month prior to the arrests. Helms was followed by investigators when she met with Hendricks, who allegedly gave her money to buy prescription drugs from Mixon. As they continued investigating, Helms went to Mixon’s home, then left and proceeded to go back to give the drugs to her uncle (Hendricks) when both were arrested.

A search warrant was served by agents at Mixon’s residence, but she was not there. According to Task Force commander Wesley Nunn, Mixon knew that a warrant had been issued for her arrest for selling prescription drugs. Authorities believe that she is on the run, and that her two teenage children may be with her. Upon entering Mixon’s home, agents seized evidence including prescriptions pills, methamphetamine, cell phones, pistols, and other guns.

On Friday January 16, a woman who works as an addiction counselor at a Gallipolis, OH based facility was arrested for allegedly trafficking morphine, according to a recent news article at the Pomeroy Daily Sentinel. 52-year-old Roberta Payne of Cheshire has been charged with felony aggravated trafficking in drugs; the charges involve morphine, which police claimed had a value of more than $36,000.

The investigation into Payne’s activities began after authorities received a tip that the addiction counselor offered to sell morphine to a client who was being counseled for drug addiction. Authorities then set up an operation to catch Payne in the act; she was caught when she allegedly sold 30 mg. of liquid morphine and more than 2,000 pills of the same substance to an undercover police officer.

Colleen Williams, Meigs County Prosecutor, called the arrest “shocking,” saying that Payne was trying to profit by preying on those she should be helping. Payne was arrested by the Gallia-Meigs Major Crimes Task Force.

Over the past year, a special task force that was unknown to the public has arrested more than 125 individuals who allegedly dealt in heroin. On Tuesday, January 13, the Westchester County Northern Narcotics Initiative performed a sweep that nabbed 21 additional individuals allegedly involved in dealing heroin and crack, according to a news report at Lohud. This is when the task force revealed its existence.

The task force has been working on eliminating the crack and heroin dealers who are selling the drugs on the street, along with their suppliers. Targeting Westchester County, the task force is said to be comprised of Westchester County police, seven local police departments, and FBI agents.

Several of the individuals arrested sold drugs to undercover police officers, according to an indictment charging 15 of the 21 arrested on Tuesday. Evidence also includes telephone conversations regarding crack and heroin sales, converting powder to crack, and other drug related topics mentioned in the indictment.

In October of 2014, Back NET (the Wasatch Back Narcotics Enforcement Team) performed surveillance at a Heber City, Utah motel, the M-Star, where they suspected drugs were being sold from a motel room. Agents with Back NET then obtained a search warrant which resulted in a sting operation that led to the arrest of a man and two women.

According to an article at KUTV.com, Brien Mills was arrested on a street in the city, and was allegedly in possession of drug paraphernalia and methamphetamine. He was arrested. Meanwhile, police went to the M-Star Motel, where they discovered what they called a “large quantity” of drugs, mostly methamphetamine. A spokesman for the Heber City police said that “There was meth everywhere,” and that one of the officers in searching the motel room bumped into a lamp. A baggie containing meth fell out of the lamp. The two women, Allyson Vavro and Tiffany Monson, were arrested. Investigators allege that the two women were selling drugs out of the motel room.

Some of the paraphernalia found include loaded and unloaded heroin syringes, and used meth pipe. The three face misdemeanor and first-degree felony drug charges.

On Sunday December 28, a Morley, Missouri man was taken into custody for allegedly possessing a controlled substance, violating a protective order, and resisting arrest. 56-year-old Kevin McClendon was in possession of methamphetamine, according to a news article at the Southeast Missourian; he was also charged with unlawful use of drug paraphernalia.

A senior deputy with the Scott County Sheriff Department confronted McClendon at a business in Morley on Sunday morning regarding violations of an adult protection order. The deputy informed McClendon that he was being arrested for the violation; McClendon then pulled a container from a jacket that was inside his vehicle, which he had decided to leave at the location. The container had a plastic bag inside containing a substance that was found to be methamphetamine. McClendon was ordered to surrender the drugs to the deputy.

McClendon then backed up and walked away from the deputy, dropping the bag on the ground. At that point, the deputy took the offender’s left arm and ordered him to the ground, but McClendon would not comply and continued to resist arrest. He was eventually forced to the ground and handcuffed.

On Wednesday, December 17, five individuals were arrested in what is said to be the biggest heroin bust in the history of Northeast Indiana, according to an announcement made on Monday at a press conference held by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Five individuals were charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin. These include 29-year-old Eduardo Martinez, 28-year-old Gisela Leyva Gamez, 40-year-old Cesar Rosales, 32-year-old Rigoberto Martinez, and 41-year-old Juan Rosales Suarez. Gamez is a resident of Phoenix, Rosales a resident of Wilmington, California, and Suarez a resident of Memphis.

Authorities began the investigation by placing wiretaps on two of Martinez’ cell phones. They then witnessed a telephone conversation in which Martinez was discussing the delivery of heroin to Fort Wayne with Gamez. Agents were surveying the planned delivery location on December 17th when they watched as a white pickup truck delivered heroin to a garage at a Fort Wayne home. The agents discovered 3.5 kilograms of heroin inside the garage, and captured Martinez and Gomez as they attempted to run away. After being issued a search warrant for the pickup truck, authorities discovered an additional 4.5 kilograms of heroin hidden inside a spare tire on Friday, December 19.

On Monday, a Marianna, FL man who members of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office had been looking for was captured after receiving information on where the suspect was located. The suspect, 29-year-old Robert Lee Garrett, had a felony warrant for Violation of State Probation.

The sheriff’s office had attempted to capture Garrett on previous occasions, but had failed in their attempts to locate him. Acting on the information they received regarding his whereabouts, members of patrol set up in the area, along with K-9 and investigation divisions. Tracking K-9 units from the Apalachee Correctional Institution and Jackson Correctional Institution also participated in the efforts to capture Garrett.

Garrett was said to be a passenger in a specific vehicle, so members of the patrol waited for the vehicle which was supposed to be in the area of Dean and Panhandle Roads. When the vehicle did arrive, deputies attempted to make contact with Garrett, however he fled on foot after exiting the vehicle. Officers pursued the suspect, and took him into custody after a short time.

On Saturday, December 6, two individuals from Brandon, MS were arrested following a traffic stop in Rankin County. According to a news article at Fox5Vegas, 30-year-old Tracie Burt and 37-year-old Thomas Allen Jr. were in the vehicle which was pulled over at approximately 9 p.m. by Rankin County police. A five-month-old baby was also inside the vehicle.

Upon pulling the car over, police found 80 grams of methamphetamine inside the vehicle. Burt and Allen were charged with child endangerment, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of more than 30 grams of meth ice, and five counts of misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance. The two also face additional charges, Burt with disorderly conduct, open container, and introducing contraband into a correctional facility, and Allen with DUI, DUI child endangerment, tampering with evidence, careless driving, and more.

The article claimed the street value of the methamphetamine found in the vehicle to be about $8,000. Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey said that this was a “large amount of street level dope,” and that it was destined toward the young men and women of Rankin County.

Thanksgiving week, 23-year-old Oscar Eduardo Espinoza-Echeverria was arrested following a drug bust in McKenzie County in North Dakota. According to news sources, police obtained a search warrant before searching Espinoza-Echeverria’s trailer located at a Watford City RV park.

He is now facing serious drug charges including possession of cocaine and methamphetamine with intent to deliver while in possession of firearms, classified as ‘AA’ felonies in the state.

Upon searching the suspect’s trailer law enforcement discovered 13 ounces of meth, one ounce of cocaine, thousands of dollars in cash, and three guns. They also found numerous cell phones, scales, and what they described as a “pay-owe” sheet. When authorities searched his body, they found a valid Mexican driver’s license, additional cash, and multiple fake ID’s.