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Border Agents Seeing More Meth from Mexico

More methamphetamine is being smuggled into the United States, and much of the illegal drug is coming across the across the Texas-Mexico border, hidden in cars or taped to bodies. The biggest spike in smuggling can be found in South Texas. "A good 80 percent of the seizures involving narcotics here in the passenger environment, passenger vehicles, deal mostly with methamphetamine," explained Customs and Border Enforcement spokesman Phil Barrera.

Source: WFAA-TV, Dallas/Fort Worth, Published: 4/7/2013 12:00:00 AM

Mexican Drug Cartels Move Deeper into US to Tighten Grip on Narcotics Market

Mexican drug cartels whose operatives once rarely ventured beyond the US border are dispatching some of their most trusted agents to live and work deep inside the United States – an emboldened presence that experts believe is meant to tighten their grip on the world's most lucrative narcotics market and maximize profits. If left unchecked, authorities say, the cartels' move into the American interior could render the syndicates harder than ever to dislodge and pave the way for them to expand into other criminal enterprises such as prostitution, kidnapping-and-extortion rackets and money laundering.

Source: Guardian News and Media Limited, Published: 4/1/2013 12:00:00 AM

Defendants in Aryan Knights Investigation Plead Guilty to Conspiring to Distribute Meth

Jesse Ray Delgado, 47, of Boise, Idaho, and Dennis James, 47, of San Pablo, California, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. The defendants were charged in two separate cases. At today’s hearing, Delgado admitted that he entered into a conspiracy with other individuals to distribute methamphetamine. Delgado acknowledged that he would purchase methamphetamine and then distribute it in the Boise area. On February 16, 2012, he sold approximately one-half ounce of methamphetamine to a confidential informant. On March 14, 2012, law enforcement agents served a search warrant on Delgado’s residence and recovered over three ounces of methamphetamine. Delgado faces an enhanced sentence because of his prior conviction for possession of controlled substances in 2001.

Source: The Federal Bureau of Investigation, District of Idaho, Published: 3/12/2013 12:00:00 AM

St. Peter Police Arrest Felon with Methamphetamine, Handgun

A man classified by the Minnesota River Valley Drug Task Force as a mid-to high-level methamphetamine dealer was arrested Thursday after a tipster told agents that he was using his Ford Explorer to transport drugs. On the force’s watch list for several months, 29-year-old Nielsen Francis Ove was carrying a handgun at the time of his arrest and according to court reports was in possession of several baggies containing a white crystalline substance. Ove is currently being charged with eight felonies, two for being a felon in possession of a firearm, five for methamphetamine related crimes and one for being in possession of a stolen firearm. He is also being charged with carrying a weapon without a permit and driving with expired plates.

Source: The St. Peter Herald, St. Peter, MN, Published: 3/11/2013 12:00:00 AM

Police Find Meth Labs in Vehicle

A traffic stop for a broken tail light made on Eastern Boulevard on Sunday resulted in Clarksville Police Department officers arresting two brothers on a preliminary charge of manufacturing methamphetamine. Christopher Zaepfel, 37, of 514 Henry Mason Way in Jeffersonville, and Joseph Zaepfel, 33, of 1732 Division St. in New Albany, were arrested after police found what they described as two “shake and bake” methamphetamine labs and other items used to produce methamphetamine in the vehicle.

Source: Clarksville News and Tribune, Published: 3/5/2013 12:00:00 AM

Police Say 'Sophisticated' School Drugs Rings Not Widespread in New Hampshire

Police in the state's two largest cities say they see no evidence of schoolyard drug rings as sophisticated as the one uncovered at Portsmouth High School two weeks ago, but are under no illusions that drugs aren't being bought and sold by students. "I'd be a fool if I said drugs weren't being used here," said Nashua Police Lt. Frank Sullivan. "But something like what I've heard about the operation in Portsmouth, we've seen no evidence of that in Nashua. I like to think the partnerships we developed with school officials and students would alert us if there was one." Two Portsmouth brothers, ages 15 and 16, were arrested by police, suspected of operating a large drug sales operation for high school students. It allegedly included international drug shipments and money laundering, said Portsmouth police.

Source: The New Hampshire Union Leaders, Manchester, NH, Published: 2/16/2013 12:00:00 AM

Deputies Make Largest Meth Bust in Effingham County History

Effingham County Sheriff investigators say they made the largest methamphetamine bust in county history Wednesday morning at a McLaws Road home. Dayrl Westenbarger, 56, and Donald Wilt, 61, both of Guyton, were arrested following a search warrant served about 10:30 a.m. at the home in the 400 block of McLaws Road. The arrests came after an almost four-month investigation, Sheriff’s Office spokesman David Ehsanipoor said. Deputies discovered 136 one-pot meth labs, 42 generators, and several products to manufacture methamphetamine including camp fuel, pseudoephedrine, and 150 pounds of product testing positive for methamphetamine, Ehsanipoor said.

Source: Savannah Now.com, The Savannah Morning News, Savannah, Georgia, Published: 2/13/2013 12:00:00 AM

Indiana Senate Supports Pseudoephedrine Restrictions

The Indiana Senate voted Monday to set more stringent restrictions on how much ephedrine and pseudoephedrine a person would be able to purchase. The 44-4 vote in favor of Senate Bill 496 would restrict consumers to no more than 61 grams of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine per year – or about 500 pills.

Source: Stacey Page Online, Kosciusko County Digital Newspaper, Published: 2/12/2013 12:00:00 AM

Meth Conviction Gets Jacksboro Man 99-year Prison Term

A Parker County jury Wednesday convicted Johnny Todd Preston of possessing about 10 grams of crystal methamphetamine with intent to deliver it, then sentenced him to 99 years in prison. Preston, 40, of Jacksboro, had four previous felony convictions. He could have been sentenced to a range of five to 99 years, or life, in prison on the first-degree felony charge of manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance more than 4 grams and less than 200 grams.

Source: Weatherford Democrat, Weatherford, Texas, Published: 1/31/2013 12:00:00 AM

Anti-Meth Cold Medicine Gets Perryville Nod

City administrator Brent Buerck acknowledges that Perryville came late to the party when it waited to pass an ordinance to require prescriptions for cold and sinus pills that are made up of methamphetamine's main ingredient. Buerck and others watched as makers of the illicit drug fled communities such as Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Sikeston, Mo., where prescription mandates were already being enforced. Sudafed sales at Walmart's pharmacy had tripled; according to law enforcement, 80 percent was being used to make meth.

Source: The Southeast Missourian, Cape Girardeau, MO, Published: 1/30/2013 12:00:00 AM

3 Injured in Suspected Drug Lab Explosion in Midway Area

A powerful explosion on Wednesday ripped through a hotel near SeaWorld San Diego from a room where authorities say a couple was believed to be extracting oil from hashish, sending guests fleeing for safety.

Source: KFMB-TV, Channe 8, San Diego, CA, Published: 1/30/2013 12:00:00 AM

Informants: Stronger bath salts strain surfaces in Maine

There is a new strain of bath salts selling on the streets in Maine that is killing users and causing others to act in bizarre ways, according to police and hospital officials. Alpha-PVP, a derivative of one of the two bath salts strains that surfaced in Maine in 2011, is behind a recent increase in police calls in the state’s hardest-hit regions, law enforcement officials say. “That is primarily what is being seen in all of the three big bath salts areas — the midcoast, Bangor and Aroostook County,” Darrell Crandall, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency’s Division II commander, who covers from Kennebec and Somerset counties north, said Friday.

Source: Bangor Daily News, Published: 1/12/2013 12:00:00 AM

Narcotics Task Force Arrests 20 in Drug Sweep

The East Central Narcotics Task Force, a coalition of the Manchester, Vernon, South Windsor and Glastonbury police departments, executed a number of search warrants Friday and arrested 20 people in the area who are suspected of either dealing drugs or involved in narcotics activities.

Source: The Glastonbury Patch, Glastonbury, Connecticut, Published: 12/21/2012 12:00:00 AM

Task Force Foils Gang Plot to Smuggle Drugs to Santa Cruz County Jail Inmates

Members of the Santa Cruz County Anti Crime Team foiled a gang plot to smuggle drugs to Santa Cruz County Jail inmates. Investigators said they learned of the scheme two weeks ago and began to track members of the Poorside Watsonville gang. Four men were arrested for transportation and possession of narcotics for sales or distribution, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, and conspiracy to bring narcotics into a jail. Task Force members gathered evidence to suggest that Abraham Sanchez, Michael Gonzalez, David Sanchez, and Angel Torres planned to hide drugs on or in their body and try to get arrested for a minor offense.

Source: Central Coast News, Fox35, Published: 12/19/2012 12:00:00 AM