Jose Rodolfo Escajeda aka "El Riquin," indicted on charges of conspiracy to import and distribute controlled substances.

Jose Rodolfo Escajeda, alias "El Riquin," is considered a fugitive and is the target of a multi-agency organized-crime task force for allegedly running a ring that transported shipments of marijuana and cocaine into the U.S. for Mexican drug cartels, DEA officials said.Escajeda, a Mexican citizen, was indicted on charges of conspiracy to import and distribute controlled substances. If convicted, he faces between 10 years and life in prison.The Escajedas, who are based in the village of Guadalupe across the Rio Grande near Tornillo, are believed to control a 120-mile corridor east of El Paso, DEA spokesman Matthew Taylor said. "When you control a part of the border, it's a major organization."The Escajeda organization allegedly smuggled more than 400,000 pounds of marijuana between 2000 and 2006.
In 2006, members of the Escajeda ring were involved in the highly publicized border standoff between Hudspeth County sheriff's deputies and men dressed as Mexican soldiers when a drug-filled SUV became stuck in the Rio Grande. Months after the standoff, Mexican federal agents raided 18 houses in Guadalupe that belonged to the Escajeda family and seized vehicles and even two tigers, the DEA and newspaper archives said. Last year, Mexican agents arrested Oscar Alonso Candelaria Escajeda, who was then the head of the drug gang, and Ivan Gandara Trejo, his brother-in-law and security chief.

Britons arrested who produced methamphetamine in the Czech Republic for the British market.

Czech police say they have detained five men, including two Britons, who produced methamphetamine in the Czech Republic for the British market.
Police said Friday the gang would buy legal drugs containing in pharmacies, process them into methamphetamine and transport it to Britain with the help of an airline employee.Members of the gang would manufacture half a kilogram (one pound) of methamphetamine every week. If they are tried and convicted, they could receive 15-year jail sentences.Police did not release the names of the three Czechs and two Britons.

Iranian security forces have killed 12 drug smugglers

Iranian security forces have killed 12 drug smugglers and seized 500 kg of narcotics in two operations near the border with Afghanistan, state media said on Wednesday.The drug traffickers were killed near the city of Taibad in Khorasan Razavi province in the last 48 hours, the official IRNA news agency said, without elaborating.Iran is on the heroin smuggling route to the West from Afghanistan, the world's number one producer of the opium poppy which is the key ingredient for heroin.More than 3,300 Iranian security personnel have died fighting drug smugglers since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

"K-hole"—the so-called nirvana induced by a heavy dose of ketamine.

ketamine hydrochloride—the chemical that induces euphoria, triggers off hallucinations and keeps party animals in a trance through the night. Ironically, in India, it is classified as a veterinary drug primarily used to anaesthetise pets—thus available over the counter. However, ketamine has attracted very little attention in this country since its abuse among Indians is limited largely to Goa's trance and techno music crowd.Ketamine can be injected, snorted or imbibed orally. The effect of the drug varies from person to person, and can last up to 24 hours. Its use can result in delirium, amnesia and impaired motor function. While the drug was tried by acid gurus like Timothy Leary in the '60s, its popularity is linked to the dance-trance movement taking wings in the '80s. Called 'Special K' by the rave party crowd, it is taken along with other drugs like cocaine and has suddenly become popular as an alternative to LSD. Long-term abuse can lead to loss of memory and eyesight besides nervous and mental disorders. An overdose can be lethal

In 2005, a joint investigation by the US Drug Enforcement Agency and the Indian Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) busted a major illicit pharmaceutical drug internet marketing organisation which operated in the US, India, Costa Rica and Australia. Officials seized 108 kg of ketamine (street value $1.62 million) in the operation. In the same year, drug enforcement authorities in Hong Kong—in a joint operation with India, Singapore and Malaysia—launched a massive operation code-named Bayonet. As much as 87.5 kg of ketamine was seized in the raids.But despite the increased trafficking of ketamine, drug enforcement agencies the world over have struggled to curb the trade. The profit involved is huge. One kg of the drug costs Rs 35,000 in India, but roughly retails at Rs 10 lakh abroad. Much of their efforts have been impeded by the drug's non-inclusion in the United Nations' schedule of controlled substances. While the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), a UN body that steers policy on drug-related matters, has repeatedly pushed for its inclusion, it has failed to convince the World Health Organisation's expert committee on drug dependence.M.M. Bhatnagar, a former NCB director general who also did a five-year stint as a member of the International Narcotics Control Board, says several countries have taken up the issue of putting ketamine on the controlled substance schedule. Says he: "The CND in one of its 2007 resolutions requested the UNODC to share its concerns with the WHO's expert committee on drug dependence and looks forward to an updated review of ketamine by them."Sources told Outlook that the Indian government is now actively considering putting ketamine on the scheduled list. This will ensure that any illegal trade of the drug comes under the purview of the stringent Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. As of now, offenders can only be prosecuted under the milder Customs Act. Drug enforcement and DRI officials hope to curb the illicit production and trafficking of ketamine if the drug is included in the controlled substances list.
Meanwhile, the trade goes on. The latest is to conceal the powdered form of the drug and ship it beside flour or sugar. As for the market abroad, there are enough people lured by the hype of experiencing a "K-hole"—the so-called nirvana induced by a heavy dose of ketamine.

Christopher Pimblett ran his sophisticated drug trafficking empire from his lavish St Helens home.

The racket was run by husband and wife Christopher and Sharon Pimblett from their St Helens home.The couple, who have since divorced, dispatched vans with heroin and cocaine hidden inside.The drivers would then return to St Helens with plastic bags stuffed full of cash.By raking in around £40,000 a week, the couple are estimated to have made more than £4m over two years.Yesterday, Christopher Pimblett was jailed for 12 years after Judge Brian Lewis ruled he was the “controlling mind” of the gang.He organised couriers and shipments, and liaised with Glasgow-based Fergus Smith – who was in control of the Scottish side of the organisation.Smith was locked up for 10 years and Pimblett’s former wife Sharon jailed for four years.Judge Lewis said Sharon Pimblett, a former pharmacy worker who was tearful throughout the proceedings, had an “active” role in assisting her husband.He jailed the 17-strong gang, who were convicted of conspiracy to supply Class A, B and C drugs from January 1, 2005 to April 17, 2007, for a total of 108 years and two months.He said: “This was a large-scale, relatively sophisticated operation which was active for a period of over two years.”He added: “Class A drugs are the greatest social problem of our time.”Judge Lewis said the scale of the racket was obvious from the seizures police made – more than 10kg of cocaine, 50kg of cannabis, 12,000 ecstasy tables and more than £400,000 cash.However, that did nothing to prevent the operation continuing.
When officers raided the homes of gang members they found wads of cash, drums full of cutting agents and drug paraphernalia including cocaine presses. The gang was making so much profit they invested in money-counting machines.Expensive cars were shared between the gang and some members were planning to buy property abroad.Now a drugs gang who lived the high-life are behind bars.
Kingpin Christopher Pimblett ran his sophisticated drug trafficking empire from his lavish St Helens home.But Pimblett and his now ex-wife Sharon earned their £40,000 a week income by running drugs to Scotland and getting dealers to sell them on the streets of St Helens.The couriers were paid a few hundred pounds a trip, but Pimblett and those closet to him amassed a mountain of cash.Around £400,000 was found by police in safes buried in the garden of Philip Brown, Pimblett’s step-father.Detective Inspector Andy Black, of Merseyside Police’s Matrix unit, said: “They all had nice houses, nice cars and enjoyed travelling and foreign holidays.“Around the time Pimblett was arrested, he was talking about buying a house abroad and we know others had already done so.“Ian Moffatt was arrested by us on the Tarmac at Heathrow as he came back from one of numerous trips to Spain.”
Financial investigators are already a long way down the road to stripping the gang of their ill-gotten gains under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Jessica Almada, who has spent the last eighteen months behind bars pending trial, has been cleared on charges of drug-smuggling

Argentinian model Jessica Almada, who has spent the last eighteen months behind bars pending trial, has been cleared on charges of drug-smuggling by a judge in Barcelona. Jessica, who turned 20 during her incarceration, was arrested with fellow model and compatriot, Belén Téllez, who has also been cleared, at Barcelona's El Prat airport after their manager and fellow passenger, Alejandro Jorge Panno, was found to be carrying 16kg of cocaine in four suitcases. Panno, who insisted during his trial that the girls knew nothing about the drugs, was convicted to serve 11 years behind bars and was fined two million euros. Jessica's lawyer revealed yesterday that the girls are planning to claim compensation for the time they spent in jail, but recognised that it is going to be difficult given that it is normal for foreigners awaiting trial to be remanded without bail given the high perceived risk that they would try and flee the country if granted bail.

Otis "Cowboy" Carden,Terry "Ox" Gilmore Thirty people have been arrested, identified as part of the Carden organization.

A cache of weapons that included the launcher, fully automatic rifles, an "elephant gun," and handguns of various sizes and shapes was put on display today by the sheriff and law enforcement officers from other jurisdictions that participated in the nearly year-old probe.The investigative team focused its attention on Otis "Cowboy" Carden, 26, and Terry "Ox" Gilmore, 34, who are accused of being the ringleaders. Sgt. Ian Floyd said everyone else arrested worked for these two.
"Some stole vehicles," Floyd said. "Others broke into houses and stole guns."The investigation began last summer after a vehicle theft, he said. From there, it led to drugs and guns and stolen property.Judd said there was no evidence the ring was smuggling guns.The ring bought and sold stolen goods and dealt mainly in methamphetamine, he said. Although the public was undisturbed by the ring, Judd said members would be very violent to those who didn't pay debts or tried to rip them off.
Judd said victims were fearful of coming forward.
"One guy had the pudding beat out of him," Judd said. "This is one of the more violent groups we've encountered recently. They were violent toward each other and those who dealt drugs and stole property if they didn't pay up."
Three members of the ring remained at large, he said."But our guys are coming after you," he said.
The ring made money off drugs and the sale of stolen property. The guns mostly were bought and sold among the members, Judd said, and were used for protection and intimidation.The origins of the bomb launcher remained a mystery, he said. The ring member who procured it said he bought it for $100, Judd said, "and sold it to a ring leader buddy for $400. But we don't know where it came from."Charges against those arrested included dealing in stolen property, drug possession and dealing, and theft.
Carden was arrested Jan. 23 in Osceola County by the U.S. Marshals with 11 grams of meth and $9,000 in his possession, authorities said. He was charged by a federal grand jury this week with being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a machine gun.Gilmore, who authorities said described himself as the "muscle" of the organization, was arrested Feb. 8 on charges including grand theft auto, resisting an officer without violence and drug possession.
Thirty people have been arrested since last summer, identified as part of the Carden organization.

Jason Callahan was arrested for reportedly being in possession of cocaine and paraphernalia faces additional charges

Jason Callahan, was being processed for his earlier arrest.“Callahan was patted down prior to arrest, after arrest and upon entering the jail facility,” Gonzalez reported. “Callahan was asked numerous times if he possessed any other type of illegal contraband on his person. Callahan repeatedly stated ‘no.’ ”
But when corrections deputies removed Callahan’s clothing, they found a cigarette pack wrapped into a drawstring in his shorts. Inside was a glass crack pipe with cocaine residue copper and a cigar container with four crack rocks inside. Callahan was being held on bond Friday at the Lee County Jail.

Albert Morales,Melinda Nieves were charged with third-degree and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance

Albert Morales, 19, and Melinda Nieves, 21, both of West Street, LoConte said.
Morales and Nieves were charged with third-degree and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, as well as second-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, LoConte said.
As a result of the arrests, $4,000 and about 40 grams of heroin were seized, LoConte said. The arrests followed undercover operations and continuous surveillance against the targeted individuals, LoConte said.
Members of the Syracuse Drug Enforcement Agency office, Utica police, and the Oneida County District Attorney’s Office also assisted with the investigation into heroin sale, possession and distribution across the state, including Oneida and Clinton counties, LoConte said.

Jerry Germaine Douglas arrested on charges of trafficking in cocaine

Jerry Germaine Douglas. Burbaugh said that through a confidential informant detectives were able to arrange a drug transaction with Douglas, a former Marion resident now living in Worthington, suspected for some time of drug trafficking.
"When he arrived at the meeting location in Delaware, (authorities) got him pinned," Burbaugh said. "Once we got him pinned in, Douglas was apprehended without trouble."A passenger in Douglas' vehicle, Haven Nelson, attempted to flee, but was apprehended a few hundred yards away, Burbaugh said.Authorities recovered 126 grams of powder cocaine with an approximate street value of $12,600 from Douglas, who was arrested on charges of trafficking in cocaine. Nelson also faces drug charges after authorities located approximately 40 grams of marijuana with an approximate street value of $400 on him.Simultaneous to that operation, Burbaugh said officers with the Marion City Police Department and deputies with the Marion County Sheriff's Office were conducting surveillance on several locations in the Marion area. Officers arrested two men, Derrick and Brandon Darling, on charges of trafficking in heroin as they attempted to leave a Leader Street address.In addition, Eric Meachem was arrested on Latourette Street, found in possession of 40 balls of heroin with an approximate street value of $850 and a handgun. A woman with him, Jessica Shroats, was arrested on a charge of drug possession.Authorities also executed search warrants at 630 and 632 E. Center St. and arrested occupants there, Troy Blevins and Shawn Thomas, on charges of trafficking in heroin.In addition, a total of over $2,600 in cash was seized. The cases have been forwarded to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office for consideration of filing formal charges.
Burbaugh said that while many of the individuals arrested know one another, he would not describe this as a drug ring, but rather separate cases completed at the same time. The investigations into these cases began after receiving complaints on many of the listed addresses and through the use of confidential informants.
"We tried to hit them all in one day," Burbaugh said. "It's easier to apprehend them all at once because once word gets out, subjects start leaving the area."

Abdi Aziz Elmi admitted two counts of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply

Police found large quantities of cocaine and heroin belonging to Abdi Aziz Elmi after a routine stop in the St Michael’s area of Camberley in October last year.After a search of a house in which he was lodging, officers found almost 20 grams of heroin and eight grams of cannabis.The drugs had a combined street value of almost £3,000.They also retrieved a laptop computer that was stolen from a house in Farncombe, near Godalming.The 38-year-old admitted two counts of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply, and one charge of handling stolen goods.
He was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Friday to 21-months behind bars.
Ruby Selva, prosecuting, told the court Elmi was stopped on St Michael’s Road because he looked drunk.He was searched and £760 and evidence of needles were found.
Officers later uncovered a package of white power that had been stuffed in his boxer shorts, as well as his drugs and scales at a house in St Michael’s Road.Elmi, from Hardford Drive, Camberley, has a string of previous convictions for dishonesty, robbery, burglary, and drug dealing.
Paul Jackson, defending, said: “Primarily there are three people who contact him [for drugs] and all three of these are his friends. This supports the position it was only social supply.
“This is a man who has been addicted to heroin for 13 years.”
Prosecutors agreed Elmi had only been selling drugs to friends, much to the dismay of presiding Judge Derek Inman.“I have read the basis of plea and it appears that was accepted by the prosecution,” judge Inman said.
“Although that surprises me and other people in the court, I feel bound by that.”
He added: “Class A drugs lead to the degradation of people who become addicted to them and like you have to turn to serious crimes to fund their habits.”

Brandon A. Edwards charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance

Brandon A. Edwards, 35, of Wilmer, Ala., was arrested shortly after a sheriff's deputy searched his vehicle in a stop about 12:41 a.m. Thursday at Mississippi 613 and Carlos Keyes Road in Hurley. He was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance after deputies reported finding a couple of bags of cocaine and marijuana. Edwards, authorities said, was sitting in the front passenger seat of his red 1996 Toyota Corolla, with his girlfriend driving and another friend in the back seat, when they were stopped for weaving. The arresting officer said he got suspicious when he noticed Edwards and the other passengers were nervous.
Deputies seized an undisclosed amount of cocaine and about 48 grams of marijuana.
Edwards was the only one arrested. He was taken to the Jackson County jail pending a bond hearing.

Graeme Ferguson died after being chained and beaten in a Montreal warehouse four days earlier

Robin Cote, 42, was arrested by Montreal Police on March 27 on a Canada-wide warrant for the 2005 slaying of 27-year-old Graeme Ferguson, said an Ottawa police news release issued late Thursday afternoon.Cote is to appear in court on Friday.
Ferguson died outside an Ottawa bus station in July 2005 due to blood clots caused by being chained and beaten in a Montreal warehouse four days earlier.
The beating took place after he agreed to carry $500,000 worth of cocaine in a suitcase from Vancouver to Montreal, but showed up in Montreal without it. Ferguson said he had left the cocaine behind in Ottawa after he saw police at the bus station.
Four men were sentenced in August 2006 to two to nine years in prison each for their role in the beating. At the time, police were still looking for Cote and 29-year-old Paul Layoun.Layoun remains at large, wanted for first-degree murder.
In addition to first-degree murder, Cote has also been charged with conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, extortion, aggravated assault with a weapon and conspiracy to traffic cocaine.

Daniel Rendon aka Don Mario his men killed a handful of gunmen sent by a former paramilitary boss to assassinate him

Wanted drug lord Daniel Rendon, known as "Don Mario," says in the recording that his men killed a handful of gunmen sent by a former paramilitary boss to assassinate him. The tape shows 25 men who Rendon claims to have captured.
"We have had to join forces to defend against an extermination campaign," he says in the video, which was seized by police in Bogota and broadcast on local television.
National police chief Gen. Oscar Naranjo said two undercover police officers were among the seven killed. Rendon said they were working for his rivals.
"That is a very serious accusation. The police must clarify what these officers were doing there," said Pablo Casas, an analyst at Bogota think tank Security and Democracy.Corruption among state security forces has long been a problem in the world's biggest cocaine-exporting country.
Naranjo called for the 25 hostages to be freed and warned that killings among former right-wing paramilitaries still tied to the cocaine trade are rising sharply.
Rendon is the brother of a former paramilitary warlord known as "El Aleman," or "The German," who is in prison after disarming in a government peace deal.Rendon accuses another demobilized paramilitary chief, Diego Fernando Murillo, or "Don Berna," who once dominated the underworld in Medellin, of trying to kill him in a bid to dominate smuggling in the Gulf of Uraba, a departure point for cocaine shipments.
Murillo issued a statement dismissing the charge as a "clumsy set-up." It said he has left the drug business in accordance with the peace deal.
More than 30,000 "paras" have demobilized over the last five years in a process criticized by human rights groups for not forcing ex-militia leaders to dismantle their drug-smuggling and extortion networks.The government admits that thousands of demobilized paramilitaries such as Rendon have returned to crime. The right-wing militias were formed in the 1980s to help drug traffickers and cattle ranchers combat Marxist rebels.

Griffith Mortimer Davies sold heroin that was kept in a tin hidden in a compost heap.

Griffith Mortimer Davies, 70, sold heroin that was kept in a tin hidden in a compost heap. A jury at Swansea Crown Court found Davies guilty of possessing heroin with intent to supply. Davies, of Penlan in the city, denied the charge and claimed he was looking after the tin for someone else. He said he had no idea what was inside it but refused to identify who it belonged to. Prosecuting barrister Mark Spackman accused him of supplementing his state pension by dealing in Class A drugs, never mind how surprising that was for a man of his age. The trial had heard that the circular tin was found in the compost heap by police who raided his home and it contained heroin in 18 "wraps'' of foil.
Davies, who was wearing a dinner suit and a black bow tie when he gave evidence on Wednesday, was convicted by the jury. He was bailed for sentencing later this month but Judge Keith Thomas warned him to prepare for jail.

Donald Perruso sentenced to four to eight years in state prison

Donald Perruso sentenced to four to eight years in state prison for a string of burglaries, thefts and a chase with police.Donald Perruso prior to his arraignment last June before District Judge Ralph Litzenberger.Perruso, son of Wilson Mayor David Perruso, has battled heroin addiction since he was a teenager and was on a heroin-fueled binge last summer when he committed the crimes over a roughly two-week period, defense attorney Chris Shipman said.
"You were on a bender, on a spree and you have an extensive prison record," McFadden said before sentencing Perruso.
She also ordered he pay more than $6,000 in restitution for two burglaries and a theft and fined him more than $4,200. Shipman asked that the judge send Perruso to prison as quickly as possible to begin drug treatment

Mandy Sharp was jailed for four months consecutively to her previous sentence, which was due to end this month, after she pleaded guilty

Mandy Sharp, 39, was brought from prison to Teeside Crown Court to be sentenced for supplying the Class B drug after serving eight months for two previous drug offences.
The 47 grammes of amphetamines were in a plastic tub and a plastic bag, and she admitted they were hers.
Kristian Mills, prosecuting, said that Sharp had been on bail on April 17 last year for possession of Class B and C drugs, and she admitted to a probation officer that she made a conscious decision to continue supplying drugs.Peter Kilgour, defending, said she had been open with the police and she had not claimed that she was holding the drugs for someone else.She first came to the attention of the courts when she was 33, and before then she was an ordinary mother bringing up her children under difficult circumstances.She said that she had been drug free since she was jailed last August, which did not always happen in prison. She was willing to accept the help of the Probation Service to reduce her drug use on her release.He added:"She has a child of 21 months, she just wants to get out and become a mother again.
"I ask for the opportunity that she can simply go back to being a mother."
Judge Les Spittle told her:"You deliberately decided that you would make as much as you could before you were locked up.
"It was a conscious and deliberate decision by you to benefit yourself before you faced the consequences of an inevitable prison sentence for what you had done before.
"But frankly, I and the probation officer can see no basis on which I can suspend the sentence. You have got to pay the price. It's up to you, if youreally want to get away from drugs, put your actions where your words are.
"If you really want to be a mother again then behave like one."
Sharp of Warren Street, Middlesbrough, was jailed for four months consecutively to her previous sentence, which was due to end this month, after she pleaded guilty to supplying a Class B drug.

Robin Cote arrested to face several charges, including first-degree murder

Robin Cote was arrested by Montreal police on March 27 and returned to Ottawa on Thursday to face several charges, including first-degree murder, according to Ottawa police.A Canada-wide warrant for Mr. Cote's arrest was issued in January 2006.
Mr. Ferguson, a 27-year-old British Columbia native, was hired as a drug mule to transport 17 kilograms of pure Colombian cocaine to Ottawa before he was killed over a botched delivery, according to earlier court proceedings related to the case.four men admitted in court to their role in Mr. Ferguson's death. Mr. Cote is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.He faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, extortion, aggravated assault with a weapon, robbery and conspiracy to traffic cocaine.Paul Layoun, 29, is still wanted on a Canada-wide warrant in connection with Mr. Ferguson's death.

Czech Anti-Drug Centre (NPC) recently detained members of two alleged drug dealing gangs, a group suspected of selling pervitine (methamphetamine)

Police from the Czech Anti-Drug Centre (NPC) recently detained members of two alleged drug dealing gangs, a group suspected of selling pervitine (methamphetamine) to Britain and foreigners who police say trafficked in heroin, NPC spokesman Bretislav Brejcha told journalists. The pervitine lab that the first group operated has been one of the biggest that the police recently revealed. Brejcha said an airline employee helped transport the pervitine to Britain. Police will release more information on both cases, dealt with within operations codenamed Lotus and Captain, on Friday. In 2007, Czech police arrested 2031 individuals suspected of drug-related crimes, including 130 foreigners. Police registered an increased interest in cocaine in the Czech Republic of which 37.6 kg were seized last year, or eight times more than in 2006. They also seized some 20 kg of heroin and about 5 kg of pervitine.
The NPC has long criticised the fact that medicines containing pseudoephedrine from which pervitine can be produced are sold without a prescription in the country. In 2007, some four million packages of these medicines were sold. The Czech Pharmacists Chamber estimates that some 80 percent of the packages were used for pervitine production.

Vincent Branson,Heather Tennant,Cory Williams detectives discovered more than 200 grams of cocaine and two pounds of marijuana in a dresser drawer.

Vincent Branson, 28, of 158 Hirn St., and Heather Tennant, 28, of 5996 Egypt Pike. While searching the home, detectives discovered more than 200 grams of cocaine and two pounds of marijuana in a dresser drawer. On a coffee table in front of where Branson was seated was a .45 caliber handgun with several rounds of ammunition. Detectives also found 7 grams of cocaine in Tennant's purse.Later, another resident of the home, Cory Williams, 27, arrived at the scene, saw authorities conducting the search and attempted to leave, backing his vehicle into a pole. He was arrested, and detectives found about a half-pound of marijuana in his bedroom.
Authorities also found drug scales and $5,527 in cash in the home, and agents also seized two vehicles, three flatscreen televisions, jewelry and a laptop computer.
Branson, Barfield and Tennant were charged with drug abuse-possession of cocaine. Williams was charged with permitting drug abuse."We are trying to keep the dealers off the street," Nichols said.Nichols also believes the drugs they discovered at the residence were for more than personal use.
"It's obvious the drugs were going to be for distribution purposes," he said.
Late Wednesday afternoon the Ross County Sheriff's Office issued a warrant at a local bank for a safe deposit box owned by Branson.In the box was $136,000 in cash along with $10,000 in jewelry."We acted on information we received last night which led us to the safe deposit box," he said.