Several people face drug counts
By DOUG SMITH
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Daily Journal Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Farmington Chief of Police Rick Baker said a group of officers has worked over the past week in following up on what began as a traffic stop by an officer on May 5. That stop, which occurred for an equipment violation, turned up approximately a pound of marijuana, illegal prescription medications and several hundred dollars in cash.
An officer stopped the car and while talking to the driver became suspicious. He contacted a deputy with the St. Francois County Sheriff’s Department, who responded with his trained canine. The dog indicated that the vehicle contained illegal drugs. That’s when the illegal substances were found and confiscated.
The officer then got consent to search the driver’s home on the north side of town. Once there, officers found roughly five pounds of marijuana, about $3,000 in cash, another $300 in counterfeit money, illegal prescription medications and an assortment of drug paraphernalia. Reports show the suspect was a 28-year-old male. Formal charges have not been filed yet.
The following day officers with the police department, sheriff’s department and Mineral Area Drug Task Force obtained a search warrant for a home located in the middle of town, near the downtown business district. Inside that home they found approximately two pounds of marijuana, roughly $6,000 in cash and a handgun. Two men, ages 20 and 56, were arrested. Charges are pending at this time.
A second warrant was served on a home south of downtown. This time officers found a small amount of marijuana and a small quantity of cash. The resident reportedly fled the home before officers arrived. The department is pursuing arrest warrants for the 43-year-old man this week. There is evidence that he may have been selling drugs to boys as young as 14.
Baker said charges will be applied for as early as this week. While the initial traffic stop happened more than a week ago, the department continued working on leads they developed from looking at the original evidence, eventually wrapping up the case only days ago.
The traffic stop and subsequent searches took about 11 pounds of marijuana with a street value of about $12,000, a large quantity of other illegal drugs, paraphernalia, and about $10,000 in drug-related cash off the streets.
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