Pot times July 15, 2005
35 Indicted On Meth Charges
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1119/a07.htmlNewshawk: Herb
Pubdate: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 35 INDICTED ON METH CHARGES
Source: Kerrville Daily Times (TX)
Copyright: 2005 The Daily Times
Contact:
news@dailytimes.com
Website: http://www.dailytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3035
Author: Gerard MacCrossan
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm
(Methamphetamine)
The largest organized crime case in Kerr County in several years goes to the
courts with 26 defendants arrested by 8 a.m. Tuesday and nine more being
sought.
During the yearlong investigation, five clandestine meth labs were seized and
numerous burglaries, thefts and forgeries solved, Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer said.
Two sawed-off shotguns and several handguns also were seized
Hierholzer said Tuesday that all 35 defendants are Kerr County residents, and
those still being sought are believed to have left the area once word of the
roundup spread. None of the suspects in the sealed indictments can been
identified until the 216th Judicial District Court authorizes it, he said.
However, he did reveal that many of the defendants are either related or are
friends.
The investigation, headed by up Kerr County Sheriff's Office Chief Investigator
Carol Twiss and Investigator James Ledford, was presented to the 216th Grand
Jury on Friday. Thirty-five felony indictments were issued for organized
crime for conspiring to manufacture methamphetamine, Hierholzer said. The
grand jury also issued 16 indictments for possession of methamphetamine and
delivery of methamphetamine.
Hierholzer praised the cooperation of the agencies that aided in the
investigation and roundup.
"It was fabulous teamwork," he said. "Every agency in the
county was involved."
In addition to the sheriff's office, Kerrville Police Department, Ingram
Marshal's Office, the 216th Judicial District Narcotics Task Force, Texas
Department of Public Safety and other area agencies participated.
"Methamphetamine possession and manufacturing has become a very serious
problem across our state and the nation," Hierholzer said. "We
have taken a zero-tolerance attitude concerning this problem in Kerr
County."
The seized labs were in different areas of the county, he said, with the most
recent on May 21 at a house on Crest Ridge Drive, a middle-class neighborhood on
Kerrville's west side. Information on the goings-on filtered through to
the investigators from neighbors, including a police officer who lived in the
area.
One resident, who didn't want to be identified, said Tuesday that a raid on the
house occurred about 5 a.m. He said the renters, who have since moved,
were a couple with young children.
"You knew they weren't the most desirable of renters, but we never thought
it was anything like that," he said. "The thing that was most
aggravating to me was the people that it brought to our street. It made me
want to shut the garage door a little tighter."
Hierholzer said the drug trade is being battled aggressively in Kerr County.
"Speaking for our agency and the law enforcement community, we will not
tolerate this activity ... and will aggressively continue to work to
eliminate this blight," he said.
Recent legislation passed in Texas could make methamphetamine production more
difficult by making it harder to acquire the chemical ingredients. House
Bill 164 requires wholesalers of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine products to keep
business records of sales and to report suspicious requests of large quantities
of the products to the Department of Health and Human Services.
In a statement, Hierholzer said he encourages business who sell ingredients that
can be converted to manufacture methamphetamine to put the items -- such as Red
Devil dye, Liquid Plumber, iodine, and cold and allergy tablets -- behind the
counter or notify law enforcement agencies of people purchasing the products in
quantities that could be used to manufacture the drug.
