The Mega Merged Drug Busts Thread

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ABC/LAPD Raid Two East L.A. Bars for Drugs/Illegal Solicitation

LOS ANGELES, June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) and the Los Angeles Police Department conducted an investigation of two East Los Angeles bars Friday night, arresting 14 people and seizing quantities of drugs.

The joint operation was the result of an undercover investigation by ABC Investigators who purchased cocaine in the Copas De Oro, **** Caesar Chavez Avenue. The undercover investigators were also solicited by women to purchase them alcohol at inflated prices who then split the profit with the bar, a violation of state law.

Taken into custody at the Copas De Oro on narcotics charges were 35-year-old Juan Carlos Martinez, 20-year-old Fernando Silva, 33-year-old Daniel Ayala, and 37-year-old Martin Rodriguez. Four women were arrested for the illegal solicitation of alcohol.

Arrested for possession for sale of illegal drugs at El Jirasol Bar, 3105 Wabash Avenue, was 26-year-old Oswaldo Quiroz. Five women were also cited for illegal solicitation of alcohol.

The undercover operation began after area residents complained to city and state officials about the rising amount of crime emanating from East Los Angeles Bars, and the problems they were causing for the local community.

ABC licensed businesses where drug activities occur face possible suspension or even revocation of their liquor license, depending on the seriousness of the situation.

Bars that allow the illegal solicitation of alcohol also face serious penalties because of the inherent crime connected with the solicitation. Businesses that allow the solicitation generally have higher incidents of crime, such as drugs, fights, shootings, stabbings and other illegal activity. Women soliciting for alcohol face a maximum fine of $1,000 and/or six months in the county jail.

Penalties for the bars will be determined after a thorough review of the crime report.



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Preacher arrested on drug charges

Preacher arrested on drug charges
By Tracie Troha/Selma Times-Journal Writer
June 5, 2004

Officers swarmed Kevin Leon Cockrell's truck as he pulled into the driveway of his mobile home Thursday night

Cockrell, who later told officers he was a preacher in Tyler, was charged with drug trafficking after police seized nine pounds of marijuana from the bed of his red Ford F-350 pickup truck.

Shaped in the form of two large bricks, the marijuana is estimated to have a street value of around $6,500.

Lt. John Brock of the Selma Police Narcotics Division said police also seized about $161 in cash from the 36-year-old suspect, who gave a Sawyerville address as his residence.

A team composed of Selma Police Narcotics Division detectives, the Dallas County Sheriff's Department, and an agent from the Fourth Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force made the drug bust hours after serving a search warrant and making a drug arrest.

Justus Allen Walker, 22, a resident in the xxxx block of Pollard Street, was charged with unlawful possession of marijuana on Thursday after officers served him a search warrant and discovered 55 bags of the drug in his home.

"He had about a quarter pound of marijuana," Brock said. "It was divided into red bags, which he sold for $10 a piece, and green bags, which he sold for $20."

Selma Police Chief Robert Green said police also seized about $743 in cash believed to have come from the sale of drugs, as well as set of scales.

"Despite criticism of this department and the fact that we are under staffed, our officers have done an outstanding job," Green said. "They are doing their best efforts to stop the sale of drugs in Selma."

Green said it is possible that more arrests could be forthcoming in this case, and an investigation is still underway.

"Marijuana is still the drug of choice in this area," Green said. "It's not unusual for us to find this large amount in an arrest."

Cockrell is currently being held in the Parry County Jail under a $100,000 bond, while Walker is in the Dallas County Jail under a $6,500 bond.

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Shock expressed by methadone arrest

TRYMAINE D. LEE , Staff Writer
06/03/2004
The Trentonian 2004

Shock expressed by methadone arrest

Clients of the New Horizon Treatment Services, where an employee was arrested Tuesday after allegedly stealing nearly $400,000 worth of methadone, remained shocked yesterday as news of the arrest spread.

George S. Williams, 50, of the xxxx Ingham Avenue, was held on $500,000 bail at his arraignment in Trenton Municipal Court Tuesday on charges of second-degree theft and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, Lt. Joe Juniak, of the Trenton Police Department said.

Yesterday, as a summer’s slow drizzle began to fall upon a small group of addicts clustered outside the center on xxxx Perry Street, workers inside said they have been told not to comment.

Outside though, those combating addiction by way of the center’s massive resource of methadone, were in disbelief of Williams’ arrest.

"I can’t believe he would do that," one man said. "Unless he was framed."

The stream of those in need flowed steadily into a gathering outside the centers doors.

"He was a problem solver," said one petite woman.

"He really helped us out when we needed. He did his job good," she added.

A man, in his early to mid-20s, said Williams had been clean for close to 20 years, and encouraged each of them to take their fight for sobriety one day at a time.

Williams was a five-year New Horizon employee, and worked as a program aide. He was responsible for the safekeeping and security of the methadone stockpile at the treatment facility, police said.

Cops reported that Williams stole two gallons of liquid methadone hydrochloride -- the costly drug used to wean drug addicts from heroin use -- as well as four bottles of the drug, each containing 100 tablets.

Each gallon is worth $180,000. And each bottle of pills is worth about $1,000. The total for the stolen narcotics is about $360,000, police said.

Around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, employees at New Horizon called police when a routine inventory of the locked room where themethadone is stored revealed the two one-gallon containers of liquid methadone and the bottles of methadone pills were missing.

Police from the Criminal Investigation Bureau locked down the facility to secure it and did not allow anyone to leave the building, Juniak said.

Detectives soon found the four bottles of methadone pills inside Williams’ white Buick, which remained yesterday in the clinic’s parking lot.

Williams was arrested shortly after the pills were discovered.

Police then called in officer Pete Szpakowsky and Roy, a police drug-sniffing dog.

The dog sniffed out the two containers of liquid methadone concealed in a filing cabinet, Juniak said.

"Apparently, [Williams] had taken the bottles from the saferoom and was going to remove the two gallons of methadone from the premises in a cooler bag," Juniak said.

New Horizon began as a state-run operation in 1970 and was taken over by a private group of volunteers in 1984.

The center is a last chance for many of the city’s addicts.

"Without this place we wouldn’t be able to function," a woman said yesterday.

"And all of us would be back on the street copping (buying drugs)," another chimed in.

READ IT

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Man in suicide case faces drug charges

Man in suicide case faces drug charges
Authorities suspect he may have helped wife kill herself
By DAVID DOEGE, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
June 7, 2004

Waukesha - Drug charges were issued Monday against a man under investigation in the death of his wife in a possible assisted suicide.

Records filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court, meanwhile, indicate that authorities also are probing a report that the husband was suspended from his job as a pharmacist at a Milwaukee hospital after an internal investigation revealed that he had stolen morphine from the facility.

Police also have subpoenaed all "notes and reports" from "any staff, physician or other health care professional" who treated the husband at Waukesha Memorial Hospital, where he was taken after he and his dead wife were found by his brother, who was sent by their parents to check on the couple's welfare.

Kurt E. Kiesling, 32, of New Berlin was charged Monday with felony counts of possession of narcotic drugs and possession of marijuana and misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. The criminal complaint bases the charges on items seized from the Kiesling home during the early stages of the investigation.

His wife, Tina Kiesling, 31, was pronounced dead in their home from an apparent drug overdose on May 18, according to Circuit Court records.

According to a police affidavit filed last month for search warrants in the investigation, an apparent joint suicide note penned by the husband and wife was received by Kurt Kiesling's parents, and his mother subsequently sent the brother to the apartment. The brother got into the apartment with the aid of the building manager, and they found the husband naked, groggy and bleeding, according to the affidavit.

The woman was dead, according to the affidavit, and the husband said he wished he were, too. He subsequently said that he had taken morphine the night before, and that his wife took "pills" with his help, according to the affidavit.

The warrants to obtain samples of blood and urine from the husband and to seize evidence from the couple's apartment indicate that police were investigating the woman's death as a possible illegal assisted suicide.

"Several vials of morphine, both full and empty, were found in the apartment," according to an affidavit police filed last week to subpoena records from St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee, where Kurt Kiesling was employed. "During an autopsy of Tina Kiesling, the autopsy revealed an injection site in her right arm."

A subpoena for medical records at Waukesha Memorial Hospital indicates that Kurt Kiesling was suspended from St. Luke's on May 17 for taking morphine "for his own use."

The subpoena covers treatment records and the results of any blood or urine tests medical personnel conducted on Kurt Kiesling.

Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher said Monday that if authorities are able to determine that Kurt Kiesling was sincere in his reported desire to kill himself, it will not affect the decision on whether he should be charged with illegally assisting his wife in her death.

"It's an ongoing investigation, and he is still presumed innocent, so there is not a lot I can say at this point," Bucher said. "But just because he might not have been successful in attempting to kill himself, I don't see why we couldn't pursue it if we're able to determine that he played a role in her death."

Bucher said he will not make a decision in the case until after the results of toxicological tests of the couple are known. He said it would be a matter of weeks before the results are available.

Waukesha County Court Commissioner Martin Binn set bail for Kiesling $1,500 Monday and scheduled a preliminary hearing for July 2.

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Mother of 7 gets 3-year sentence for dealing weed

Mother's drug dealing funded gambling addiction
The Press (NZ)
09 June 2004

A mother of seven is behind bars after running tinny houses in Christchurch for six years to fund a gambling addiction.

Jacqueline Margaret Tapine, 42, was yesterday jailed for three years by Justice Chisholm in the High Court at Christchurch after admitting charges of selling cannabis and two of money laundering. Police estimated she had banked more than $200,000 from cannabis dealing.

Police noted multiple short-term visitors to Tapine's home, and when a visitor was found leaving with cannabis, they found cannabis foils and money inside. The selling charge covered dealing from April 1998 to March this year.

Analysis by police showed $205,000 had been paid into her bank accounts, some of the money being used for gambling.

The judge said Tapine had claimed to be against hard drugs and supplied cannabis to family and friends with the aim of keeping them off hard drugs.

She was previously jailed for cannabis dealing in 1997, but as soon as she was released she had returned to offending.

"You have displayed an arrogant disregard for court orders. I hope that you will come right, but let me warn you if you don't, the sentence you get in the future is likely to be a good deal higher than the sentence today.

"It is over to you to make something of your life, and you might give some thought to the young people who are dependent on you," he said.

Defence counsel Alister James said Tapine operated only through her various homes, which were not tinny houses in the sense of only being used for selling cannabis.

There was no evidence of accumulated wealth or assets, the money largely accounted for by a gambling addiction, especially to gaming machines.

Prosecutor Kerryn Beaton said aggravating factors included the length of time and sheer scale of the offending, the previous related conviction and offending while on bail.

It was not accepted Tapine did not run a tinny house and only sold to family and friends: "If it was only done with friends and whanau, she must have had an extremely large circle of close friends."

Tapine explained away the multiple visitors by saying she was selling Lotto tickets. With responsibility for young children her family situation was unfortunate, but Tapine was prepared to sell drugs from home when children were present, Ms Beaton said.

The judge acknowledged Tapine was a victim of abuse, and clearly had a major gambling problem.

He ordered forfeiture of $1050 found by police at her home.

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Firefighters find $3.4-million worth of drugs in house

Chicago - June 12, 2004 — Firefighters responding to a house fire in the 5-thousand block of S. Maplewood in the Gage Park neighborhood found a huge surprise.
Investigators say someone left $3-million dollars worth of marijuana in the basement.

They also found $4-thousand dollars worth of cocaine. The drugs did not catch on fire.

The fire started when a cigarette was left on a mattress. No one was home when firefighters arrived on the scene.

Police have no one in custody.


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Banned ephedra found - State inspectors crack down

(FL) State inspectors are cracking down on stores still selling ephedra products, banned by the federal government in early April.

The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has issued "stop-sales orders" to more than 180 stores in Florida still stocking the products, department spokesman Terence McElroy said.

In the Big Bend, records show the orders went to six convenience stores - four in Marianna, one in Wewahitchka and one in Tallahassee. Another went to ************.com, a sports and fitness nutrition store in Tallahassee's Lake Ella Plaza.

Ellik Hawkins, that shop's assistant manager, disputed the department's order: "As far as we're concerned, there were no ephedra products on our shelves."

Statewide cases

McElroy couldn't comment on specific cases but said inspectors found ephedra products statewide in late April and May, after the April 12 ban, during routine inspections.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the ban last year on products containing ephedra. In February, a medical examiner linked the death of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler to his use of an ephedra supplement, according to reports.

Ephedra is a naturally occurring substance; its active ingredient is ephedrine, claimed to aid in weight loss and heighten athletic performance, according to reports.

But, according to the FDA's Web site, "the use of ephedrine ... is associated with two to three times the risk of nausea, vomiting, psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety and change in mood, hyperactivity, and (heart) palpitations."



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Authorities take 1-year-old child into custody during meth lab bust

Authorities take 1-year-old child into custody during meth lab bust

Saturday, June 12, 2004 5:19 PM CDT



D'IBERVILLE (AP) - Authorities have taken a 1-year-old child into custody and arrested five people after a narcotics enforcement squad found a methamphetamine lab at a home.

The lab allegedly used the red phosphorus method of manufacturing meth, a process that could have blown up a couple of surrounding blocks if anything had gone wrong, said Capt. Pat Pope of the Coastal Narcotics Enforcement Team.

It also was the second time in a week that CNET has called the state Department of Human Services to remove a child from the presence of a methamphetamine lab. The other child was a 10-month-old, Pope said.

Arrested Thursday on charges of manufacturing and possessing meth are D'Iberville residents Andrew Tavis Smith, 26, and Darren Beau Cox, 21; Biloxi residents Dennis Vincent Walker, 26, and Glyn Forest Harbin, 26; and Sarah Jean Coffman, 21, of Saucier.


They were being held at the Harrison County jail on bonds of $100,000 each for Smith and Cox and $20,000 each for the others.

Sheriff George H. Payne Jr. said officers received a tip about the lab from information developed by the Jackson County Narcotics Task Force.

Authorities said they seized meth ingredients and an ounce of meth but said the lab was capable of producing one pound of meth, worth about $14,000 on the street.

Conviction of making meth in the presence of children younger than 18 is punishable by an enhanced penalty of up to 60 years in prison.

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The lab allegedly used the red phosphorus method of manufacturing meth, a process that could have blown up a couple of surrounding blocks if anything had gone wrong, said Capt. Pat Pope of the Coastal Narcotics Enforcement Team.

haha are they making meth or atomic bombs?
 
Justice of the peace charged in drug case

Justice of the peace charged in drug case

06/17/2004

Associated Press


The justice of the peace in Gold Hill has been charged with marijuana possession after he allegedly bought the drug from a police informant.

Robert H. "Bob" King was cited by police and released late last week after he was caught with an eighth of an ounce of marijuana, said Mike Winters, the Jackson County sheriff.

A woman who answered the telephone at King's house told the (Medford) Mail Tribune that King was on vacation.

Winters said the investigation started when an informant told Jackson County authorities about previous drug sales made to King.

On Friday, the informant wore an electronic recording device during a a sale, Winters said.

Police allowed King to leave the home before pulling over his vehicle a short time later. Winters said deputies confronted King about the drugs, at which point he "relinquished" the marijuana.

Winters said his department's use of the body wire was necessary to prove King was involved in drugs on a misdemeanor level.

"This is a judge we're dealing with," Winters said. "We do use a lot of body wire, and felt it was necessary (because King is) a public official."

King has been Gold Hill's justice of the peace since 1978. In 2002, he easily won a fifth six-year term on the bench.

Dave Kanner, Jackson County's deputy administrator, said there is "no administrative way" to remove King from office because of criminal allegations.

"He's elected, so there's not a whole heck of a lot we can do," Kanner said.

King also serves as the appointed municipal court judge for the city of Butte Falls. Mayor Steve Harvey said Wednesday that city officials were unaware of the citation, but would discuss the matter.

___

Information from: Mail Tribune

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$75m Coke Bust

By MURRAY WEISS
NY POST

$75M COKE BUST


June 17, 2004 -- Cops swooped down on a Queens warehouse yesterday and grabbed more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine worth nearly $75 million as the drugs were about to be loaded into a van and sold on the streets.
The lightning-swift action occurred early yesterday when a team of NYPD's narcotics cops picked up confidential information that one of the city's largest stashes of cocaine was being loaded into a small truck in Maspeth, authorities said.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the probe began in January when Queens narcotics investigators identified a Colombian drug ring that was importing cocaine and heroin for sale in the borough.

The detectives decided to move in on the warehouse at 56-32 59th St. in an industrial enclave after they received word Tuesday night that the ring was about to move the cache.

Cops charged Ivan Milano, 32, of Elmhurst, with criminal possession of narcotics, money laundering and weapons possession.

In addition to finding cocaine, officers recovered two fully loaded weapons, a 9 mm Glock handgun and EA-15 rifle, and $190,000 in cash.

"The drugs were on their way out the doors when we acted," said Kelly as he stood with Mayor Bloomberg and Queens DA Richard Brown behind tables covered with the seized drugs at police headquarters.



"This seizure represents a huge hit to the underground narcotics economy," the commissioner added, saying the investigation was continuing.

Brown said the raid "should serve as a warning" to drug traffickers that cops and prosecutors remain vigilant against them despite earmarking resources to the war on terrorism and "protecting the city."

"We will continue to aggressively track them down and seek to put them in jail for long periods of time," Brown declared.

The seizure was announced at a press conference held moments after the NYPD honored hero cops outside Police Headquarters.

"It's fitting that on a day we honor hero police officers, we announce that outstanding police work has resulted in the biggest drug bust in two years," Bloomberg said.

NY POST
 
€4m damage chef to start drug rehab course

online.ie
2004-06-18

A young chef, who caused almost €4m damage when he burned Grainger's public house and 'Bed and Breakfast' establishment in Baldoyle to the ground, will start a drug rehabilitation course next week.

Gaven Kinsella will begin residential treatment in Coolmine Lodge next Tuesday after Judge Joseph Matthews said his urine analysis report was clean and adjourned the case until July 28 for mention to see how Kinsella was getting on in his course.

Mr Cormac Quinn BL, for Kinsella, said he had given up his job and he was now ready to go for treatment.

Judge Matthews told Kinsella that he deserved a chance because he was a first-time offender and there was a "fine" probation report before him. He had previously expressed concern that Kinsella had been abusing cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine since he last appeared in court.

He told Kinsella that he was prepared to allow him to take up a place in the Coolmine Lodge drug rehabilitation centre but added that if there was no improvement the next time he came before the court, he would have no alternative but to jail him for some years.

Kinsella, aged 20, from Templeview Way, Clare Hall, Baldoyle, a former lounge boy at Grainger's, pleaded guilty to recklessly damaging it by fire on January 10, 2002.

The court previously heard that Kinsella put a match to a black plastic bag in a wheelie bin outside in Baldoyle when he was on his way home drunk

He told gardaí he did it "for a laugh" and because he was "locked and being a fool".

The lounge area, the 'B&B' and the adjacent shop, all the property of Mark Grainger, was completely destroyed as a result but seven people who were staying there managed to escape after they were alerted by the fire alarm.

Det Gda Paul O'Donohue said the damage totalled €3,809,214. Kinsella, who went home after lighting the match, went to the gardaí the following evening after he heard about the fire from a friend and read about it in an evening newspaper.

Mr Peter Thompson, who employed Kinsella as a chef in the Clontarf Court Hotel after the offence, said he was given a promotion after three months working for him and that he had the potential to become a "junior Conrad Gallagher".

He said: "There was no intent to burn down any premises. He was reckless, without any thought for the consequences. That's the bottom line. But it had a very traumatic effect, not just on a property, but on the lives of people, because of the stupid actions of a drunk youth."

Mr Grainger, who went through a similar arson on his public house in 1992, told the court he had been "to hell and back in the last 18 months" but his biggest concern when he arrived at the scene was the welfare of the seven people who were staying in the 'B&B'.

He said: "When I arrived, there was panic on the streets but the biggest heart attack I got was when I was asked to identify the people staying there because the premises was completely destroyed. Thank God they were all safe.

"I stood there in the street, seeing my business, that took me over 40 years to build, burn to the ground. I cannot describe in words the feelings of despair and lost hope I experienced that night."

Mr Grainger added that he suffered a personal financial loss of €1m and for the first year after the fire he was unable to get insurance. However, this year was insured for €70,000 when he previously was paying €23,000. He said this would take years to get over.

Judge Matthews offered Mr Grainger his utmost sympathy and wished him the best of luck in the future. He described him as a man of "great substance and integrity".

Mr Martin Giblin SC, for Kinsella, said his client was now a light drinker but hadn't given up alcohol completely. He pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and gave himself up to the gardaí voluntarily.

LInk
 
Doctor Charged With Selling OxyContin Pills

Blue Bell Doctor Charged With Selling OxyContin Pills

Doctor Allegedly Sold 300 Pills To Undercover Detective
June 18, 2004

A Blue Bell, Pa., physician was arrested and charged with selling more than 300 OxyContin tablets to a police informant and an undercover detective, authorities said.

Dr. Frank A. DeLia, 51, of Whitpain, Pa., was arraigned Thursday, several hours after his arrest. His bail was set at $1 million, District Justice Paul Leo said.

DeLia is accused of selling 280 tablets of OxyContin -- a powerful prescription painkiller -- to an undercover officer in exchange for $10,000 and 100 tabs of Ecstasy, according to court records. A week earlier, authorities said, he sold 60 Oxycontin pills to the informant for $2,100.

DeLia faces multiple counts of possession and delivery of a controlled substance and related charges. He was being held in Montgomery County Prison and couldn't be reached for comment. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.

In 1995, DeLia was sentenced to 10 months in prison in connection with an insurance fraud scheme, authorities said.

Link
 
haha he deserves to go to jail with prices like those! lol...

wonder what size pills they were....

its almost entrapment paying someone that much money to do something so easy. fuckin 10k for 280 pills and 100 e pills!! damn!

he shoulda known something was fishy cuz of the high prices the guy paid...
 
Massive drugs haul in South Wales swoop

Massive drugs haul in South Wales swoop

Jun 19 2004







MORE than 250 people were arrested and thousands of pounds worth of illegal drugs were seized in crime-cracking raids across South Wales.

The biggest haul came in Cardiff, where £80,000 was discovered in one raid carried out as part of Operation Arrowhead, a cross-border crackdown on crime throughout the South Wales Police force area.

Police squads also busted a drugs factory in North Cornelly containing £10,000 of cannabis which they say was run by organised criminals, and arrested a local man in his 20s.

The raids began on Wednesday morning and carried on into the early hours of Thursday, with 258 people being arrested – including 73 for drug offences, 16 for burglary and 25 for assault and violent crimes.

It was the seventh sweep since Operation Arrowhead was launched in May last year and took the arrest total past the 1,000 mark.

Here
 
Busts net 40 pounds of drugs

Busts net 40 pounds of drugs

Saturday, June 19, 2004
By SEAN C. McCULLEN
Staff Writer


BRIDGETON -- Police recovered a total of more than 40 pounds of marijuana in separate busts at Church Street and Manheim Avenue homes Friday.

Three city residents were charged in connection with the marijuana busts, which ironically came about while police were not even looking for narcotics.


"I would be thrilled to say this was the result of a long, detailed narcotics investigation," Det. Lt. Michael Gaimari said, "but I'm just happy that it was the result of good police work by Sgt. James Battavio and his men and the (Anti-Crime Team)."

Gaimari said late Friday that police had "nothing firm" to indicate the marijuana distribution operations were connected.

Police recovered slightly more than 15 pounds of marijuana from a 100-block Church Street home Friday morning after responding there to search for a weapon pertaining to an unrelated case, according to Lt. Dan Mourning.

Police found themselves in a similar situation later Friday when they responded to a Manheim Avenue home for a report of a burglar alarm, and spotted a substantial amount of marijuana lying in a clothes basket.

"It's funny, you don't come here looking for that when you first get here. But then you see a little bit of paraphernalia or the drugs, and it turns the investigation in a completely different direction," said Battavio, whose shift was on duty at the time marijuana was discovered at both homes.

Battavio, who along with other officers had to wait outside the Manheim Avenue home for roughly five hours while awaiting a search warrant, later reported that approximately 25 pounds of marijuana was recovered there.

Police initially noticed a smaller amount of marijuana -- what Battavio described as roughly 20 small bags, packaged for distribution, inside a Christmas-style bag -- at the 400-block Manheim Avenue home when they initially entered around 2:45 p.m. after finding someone had kicked in a door at the rear of the residence.

Ptl. Shawn Reed, while awaiting the arrival of a forensics officer to process the scene for fingerprints or other evidence related to the burglary, observed the clothes basket full of marijuana when he glanced into a mirror that was on the ground.

"Once we found the larger quantity of drugs, we went outside and secured the house," Battavio said around 4:45 p.m. as officers continued to wait for the search warrant.

Battavio noted during the afternoon that it appeared as if the individual(s) who burglarized the home had stolen some marijuana.

The residents of the Manheim Avenue home -- 22-year-old Antwon McGriff and 20-year-old Ivy Phillips -- were taken into police custody upon arriving home. Both were later charged with first-degree possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, according to Gaimari.

Both McGriff and Phillips were lodged in the county jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail.

Gaimari estimated the street value of the marijuana found in McGriff and Phillips' home at $20,000. He also noted police seized $1,300 from their home.

One man was charged in connection with the marijuana bust on Church Street earlier Friday.

Desmond H. Donaldson, 39, was charged with first-degree possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia for the 15 pounds of marijuana recovered in his 100-block Church Street home.

Donaldson was lodged in the county jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail, according to Lt. Bobby Sawyers.

Gaimari estimated the street value of the marijuana recovered at Donaldson's home at $12,000.

Marijuana packaging materials, a scale and a small amount of currency were also recovered from Donaldson's home.

Battavio, Reed, patrolmen Brian Murphy, Luis Santiago and Joseph Lopez, and sheriff's department K-9 Officer John Butsky contributed to the Church Street investigation and search, according to Mourning.

Battavio, Reed, patrolmen Thomas Gramp and Keristen Lowe, ACT Det. Sgt. David Saul and ACT Det. Mike Phillips worked on the Manheim Avenue search.

Police Chief Jeffrey Wentz commended all of the work of all officers involved Friday night.

"Their quick response and attentiveness led to a substantial amount of marijuana being recovered and three dealers being arrested and taken off the streets," he said.



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Former nurse charged in OxyContin scheme

Former nurse charged in OxyContin scheme

The Associated Press
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) - A former nurse in Fletcher Allen Health Care's oncology department has been charged with writing fraudulent prescriptions for painkillers and selling the drugs.

Christy Dolbey, 35, of Milton is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Burlington on 44 counts of conspiracy to illegally distribute and dispense more than 3,000 prescription painkillers.

Thomas Erickson, 40, Dolbey's husband and one of several individuals to whom she allegedly wrote prescriptions, also faces the same 44 charges.

The indictment alleges that Dolbey used her prescription-writing authority at Fletcher Allen to write Erickson and another individual about 50 prescriptions for opiate-based drugs from September 2003 to May. After they returned the filled prescriptions to Dolbey, she and Erickson sold a portion of the pills, prosecutors said.

The list of prescribed drugs includes more than 3,000 OxyContin pills. Also known as oxycodone hydrochloride, OxyContin is prescribed as a moderate- to high-level pain reliever. When crushed, however, the addictive drug can deliver a heroin-like high.

Police executed search warrants at Dolbey's Milton home and work space at Fletcher Allen on May 18, according to court documents.

Fletcher Allen spokesman Mike Noble said patients in the oncology department were not affected by Dolbey's actions.

If convicted, Dolbey and Erickson could face up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $1 million on each of the 44 counts.




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Cops Bust Panthers For Guns, Pot

June 19, 2004 -- A group of Black Panthers was busted in Harlem last night when cops found guns and drugs in their rental car, police sources said.
The group was pulled over at the corner of West 134 and Seventh Avenue after plainclothes Manhattan North Borough Crime cops spotted them smoking pot as they drove by in a rented Ford Taurus, sources said.

Cops found two loaded guns — a .38 caliber revolver and a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol — along with a small amount of marijuana in the car. There was also a large amount of Black Panther literature, including recruitment material found in the rental car, police said.

Cops arrested all four men: Lamont Melton, 29, of East Orange, N.J.; Jamarle Jones, 32, of White Haven, Penn.; Vernon Robinson, 36, and Jamarhi Crawford, 33, both of Massachusetts.

They were charged with criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of marijuana.

It was unclear what the group was doing in Harlem, but according to sources, they said they were heading to the National Hip-Hop Political Convention being held in Newark, N.J.

Zach Haberman


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