Testing It Up

Ironton, Ohio is a small town that sits on the Ohio River. Its schools are known to be some of the best in the state of Ohio and the town has always been considered safe. It used to be possible for a female to take a walk alone after dark without anyone bothering her. If someone did, it would be a simple nod from a passerby.

But this small town has been seeing a change. Drug dealers from Dayton and Detroit have been making their presence known. The city has seen some of its largest drug busts in recent months. One just occurred May 7, 2008 after a six week investigation concluded that the drug activity reported to authorities by neighbors was indeed fact.

However, there were more than the arrested five adults and Oxycodone taken out of the home. There were also child safety seats being carried out to vehicles that would transport the four children within the home to foster families waiting to take care of them.

Ironton, Ohio’s drug task force has done a wonderful job in getting drug dealers off of the streets. In March, they busted a couple who had $80,000 worth of cocaine within their possession. And to think that those drugs could have landed in the hands of children or resulted in the endangerment of children.

Albany, Georgia saw its fair share of drug busts over the weekend. In the three drug busts that took place on South Madison Street, Cotton Street, and Gordon street netted several arrests.

Amongst those arrested were David Harper, 26, Jody Edwards, 20, and Zerike Jones, 27. The charges included possession with intent to sell.

There were also seven more arrests that blocked off the East side of Albany because authorities were working to catch people coming to the area to buy drugs. While the authorities were in the area, members of the community were actually walking up to them and thanking them for being there.

There was also a grocery store in the area selling alcohol without a license.

Teenagers abusing prescription drugs is not a new thing. It seems we hear more about the problem now than what we used to, but students have been busted in schools for having possession of prescription drugs for many years.

For instance, in 1998 a student from a Southern Ohio high school was made to attend an alternative school for a week after she offered Vicodin to another student who had an injury. The student who had the Vicodin did have a prescription for it after having an appendectomy, but did not see the harm in offering it to the other student for her injury. However, the student who offered the drug was not aware that it was a narcotic.

The difference between then and now is the fact that most students are aware that painkillers such as Vicodin are narcotics and they know more about what they can do. They also know that they can make money off of them by selling them to other students or exchanging them for something else.

This shows that the drug problems today are not like they were a decade ago when the coolest way to get high was sniffing white-out or permanent markers. Prescription drugs are also becoming a growing issue in students as young as middle school age. This has resulted in many school systems looking to implement programs that help curb the exchange and consumption of prescription drugs by teens and pre-teens.

What started as a domestic violence call ended up being a drug bust. Now the couple is behind bars on suspicion of growing marijuana because two grow rooms were found within the home. Also found was 8 ounces of freshly harvested marijuana.

The police were responding to a call that the wife had hit her husband’s hand with a hammer. There were also a number of acids and bases that were stored improperly, but the chemicals were owned legally because the husband’s occupation was given as a chemist.

In the police report it says that the couple is charged with marijuana cultivation and possession of more than 8 ounces. Having possession of more than 8 ounces is a felony. They have also been charged with child abuse because they had their 5-year-old daughter in a dangerous home with chemicals improperly stored.

As for the wife, she is suspected of domestic violence, second-degree assault, and false imprisonment.

16 more drug dealers are off the streets after the Pennsylvania State Police concluded phase two of their “Operation Failing Grade.”

All sixteen of the suspects were apparently distributing approximately $250,000 worth of heroin, cocaine, prescription drugs, and marijuana in the Tioga County area and they have been distributing drugs in the area for approximately two years.

Luckily, all sixteen of the suspects were arrested on felony drug charges and will be arraigned in Tioga County court. However, for now they will remain behind bars and off the streets where they cannot distribute anymore drugs to others.

Police thought they had the right address, found out they had the wrong address, but ended up finding out that they were in the right place all along.

Does that make sense? Probably not, but this will:

Police had received reports that there was a drunk prowler in someone’s garage, so they decided to go check it out. However, the address had been miscommunicated and they entered the wrong garage. They didn’t find a prowler, but what they found was quite surprising.

They found 145 marijuana plants and growing equipment.

The plants were very young, but would have been ready for outside planting in approximately three months. Police also found 2 ounces of marijuana in small bags. And they found the man responsible for it. What is even more disturbing is that they found his five children in the residence as well.

The man will be arraigned on May 2nd for charges of production and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

But what about the prowler?

It just so turns out that the police had a great night between an accidental drug bust and nabbing the prowler. They also graciously thanked the prowler because it was him who started the whole thing.

We’ve heard of large drug busts, but this is one of those large drug busts that certainly takes a piece of the pie…a big piece.

Agents in Tulsa have reported that they seized $711,000 in Marijuana, which translates into roughly 400 pounds of the drug. They also found computer equipment, weapons, and approximately $75,000 in cash.

Unfortunately, the bust is not complete because no one was home at the time officials entered the home. That means that no one has yet to be arrested.

Garner, North Carolina nabbed itself five more from the drug world by seizing 5 grams of marijuana and 3.8 grams of crack.

It was a joint effort by the Drug and Vice Unit of the Wake County Sheriff’s Office and the Garner police.

Of those arrested were Clyde Gulley, 63, Lottie Smith, 58, and Donnell Smith, 39. All three of them were residents of the property at 106 Smith Drive. All were charged with possession and the intent to sell and deliver a controlled substance.

The other two who were arrested were Lolita Smith, 41, and Brandon Collins, 21. Neither one of them live at the residence, but were present on the property during the raid. Both were charged with the intent to sell a counterfeit controlled substance.

In the case of Clyde Gulley and Lottie Smith, this goes to show that even senior citizens are not immune to the lure of drugs on the street.

This time, the big drug bust for the day is in Australia and involves a 16-year-old boy who was busted in addition to a 28-year-old and a 54-year-old.

On the property where the bust took place, there was cannabis, equipment used to produce illegal drugs, and a rifle.

The 16-year-old has been charged with possession, production, and for supplying dangerous drugs. It has not been specified when he is to appear in Children’s Court, but it has been said that it will be in the near future.

Both of the adult men have been charged with the same counts and will soon be appearing in Caboolture Magistrates Court. However, the 54-year-old is facing two weapons charges instead of one.

In Spring Grove, Illinois, an elementary school principal has been fired after being accused of taking two teenage girls to a Milwaukee motel room for a weekend of sex, pornography, alcohol, and marijuana.

The school board had a closed meeting that lasted around an hour on Tuesday April 15, 2008 to discuss what should be done about Daniel Markofski, which had been principal of the school since fall 2007.

A police officer had smelled marijuana coming from his hotel room on April 5 and arrested the 47-year-old principal of Richmond, Ill.

The two teenage girls, aged 15 and 16, were taken to the motel room after he had met one of the girls on a chat line.

Markofski is scheduled to appear before a judge on April 18th in Milwaukee.