Snapshot
July 12-18, 2007

July 18
In South Dakota - A 41-year-old woman admitted to smuggling Meth to her daughter, who is an inmate at the women's state prison in Pierre.  The defendant will be sentenced in September.  The daughter pleaded guilty to passing the Meth on to another inmate and had another 8-years in prison added to her earlier sentence. The other inmate had 3-years added to her sentence for possession of Meth.

In Florida – A six-year-old child was found in a home Meth lab when drug and vice officers raided the residence.  The child was placed with the Department of Children and Families, while a 28-year-old man in the home was arrested and charges are pending against a 30-year-old woman. The officers received permission from the woman to search the home, where they first discovered an estimated 3.5 grams of finished Meth product, along with a blowtorch next to the man’s bed and several containers and jars that had Meth residue inside.  Detectives then discovered a plastic bin full of jars and tubes. 

In Colorado - Police are searching for a couple and their one-year-old daughter who are believed to have fled a house that caught on fire when a suspected Meth lab exploded.  Firefighters were called to the scene shortly after three in the morning, arriving to see flames and thick smoke encompassing the home.  A neighbor told firefighters that the couple and youngster might be trapped in the building, but no one was found inside and police did not find them outside the home.  But, they did find the suspected Meth lab in the residence.  Officers throughout the area are on the lookout for the van the family was last seen in, leaving the area of the fire.  Authorities are especially concerned about the health and welfare of the little girl.

In Tennessee - A 4-year investigation into a Meth distribution network wrapped up with indictments against 21 people. The investigation focused on smugglers who brought more than 600 pounds of Meth from western states into several counties in Tennessee. 15 of the people charged in the investigation with federal drug offenses have been arrested and warrants are out for the others

In Illinois - A 35-year-old man who held officers at bay during in a seven-hour standoff was in federal court on a Meth conspiracy charge.  He is now scheduled to go on trial for that charge in September.  The standoff began when police tried to execute a federal arrest warrant against the suspect. The warrant was for conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and possess Meth with the intent to deliver.  When deputies arrived, the man refused to leave his home and wouldn't let his girlfriend and their 9-year-old son leave. The woman and child were finally let out of the house after several hours, but the suspect remained inside the home.  The man is one of several people charged in the Meth distribution case.  If found guilty, each of them could face between five and 40 years in prison, a fine up to $2-million and a four-year term of supervised release.

In Georgia - A high school teacher living next door to the school was arrested along with his wife and her son after investigators found marijuana and components for a Meth lab in his home.  The 49-year-old is an agricultural teacher at the high school and faces multiple drug-related charges.  His 48-year-old wife and his 21-year-old stepson face the same charges.  The case broke open when a deputy pulled over a car and saw one of the passengers attempting to hide marijuana.  The teacher’s stepson was in the car, and that led officers to the home.  The family consented to a search that led to the discovery of 18 bags of packaged marijuana seeds, eight quarter-ounce bags of marijuana, potting soil with marijuana root systems and marijuana plant fragments.  Investigators also found evidence of a red P Meth lab, including 100 matchbooks with their striker plates removed, along with acid and starter fluid.  They located $61,000 cash in the trunk of the woman’s vehicle. Charges of theft by receiving stemmed from six government-owned street signs found in the home.  The woman’s grandson and granddaughter also lived in the home and were placed in the temporary custody of another family member by Department of Family and Children Services.

July 17, 2007
July 16, 2007
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July 14, 2007
July 13, 2007
July 12, 2007
 

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