The year closed out with some very good investigational work by the law enforcement officers in Saline County. The Salina Police, Saline County Sheriff's Office, Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration were all involved and their good work paid off.
There was a major drug ring operating in the area, regularly receiving illegal drugs from Mexico and then distributing them around the area. The investigation was conducted for six weeks, which is a fairly short period of time for such an accomplishment.
The police were able at the very end of November 2011 to arrest seven people and confiscate over 1,400 grams of methamphetamine that were worth $141,000. One of the main drug suppliers was actually captured during a traffic stop over in Wabaunsee County.
Lt. Jim Norton of the Salina Police Department said, "Absolutely, it's a large shipment of methamphetamine at least at a local level. I don't know since I've been at the task force we've seized that much at one point, so its nice to get that off of the street.”
After this discovery, officers searched four different homes, where they found over 2 pounds of marijuana, 74 valium pills, 11 guns and a 10 year old child. "We also took one child, a 10-year-old boy,” Norton said. “We released him to juvenile intake as an endangered child to get him out of that environment."
The officers believe that they will be making even more arrests in regards to this drug ring.
Then, starting out the new year with a bang, the Kansas City, MO Police Department made a search throughout Northland for the new synthetic drugs. These had been selling legally until their danger was realized, and then the state declared them illegal. The police found two businesses that were still selling the “plant food” and “bath salts” and “K2” and they arrested four store employees who will be charged for selling these items.
The stores had been warned many times, but their managers had continued to sell these items. Hopefully they, and other stores around, will get the message that these are harmful items and it is not illegal to possess, distribute, or sell it.
