Three corrections officers at the Central Regional Jail in Braxton County have been charged with bringing tobacco and drugs into the jail for inmates and at least one fellow officer. State Police arrested the officers late Thursday and early Friday at their homes in Nicholas and Braxton counties, said Trooper Bill Huddleston at the Sutton detachment. All three have been charged with conspiracy. Two have been charged with illegally bringing items into the jail and selling them for profit. Huddleston said information is "cascading" out of the investigation and additional personnel at the jail might face charges. [continues 347 words]
GLEN DALE - The issue of clandestine methamphetamine labs has not yet been something Northern Panhandle residents have regularly had at their doorsteps, but with one man indicted in Marshall County for allegedly operating one and a growing problem in points south, like the Parkersburg area, the Ohio and Marshall counties solid waste authorities sponsored an educational program on meth labs Wednesday night at John Marshall High School, Glen Dale. The program, conducted by Parkersburg Violent Crime and Narcotics Task Force Agent Douglas Sturm, was mainly for the purpose of teaching first responders what to look for when they enter a residence that may contain a meth lab. Patrol officers were also targeted, and taught some of the signs that will help them "put two and two together" in order to make arrests during traffic stops. [continues 681 words]
MOUNDSVILLE - Around 25 law enforcement officers from five agencies and six K-9 units turned up little during a "drug sniff" operation at John Marshall High School on Tuesday morning. First Sgt. Scot Goodnight of the West Virginia State Police Moundsville detachment said it has been a couple of years since a spot-check of the high school was completed. A small amount of an illegal controlled substance was found Tuesday in a vehicle in the school parking lot, Goodnight said. [continues 251 words]
Two legal immigrants from Somalia had 62 bundles of a naturally occurring stimulant known as khat (pronounced "cot") seized from their 2003 Dodge Caravan by a West Virginia State Police trooper Thursday. The seizure occurred at approximately 11:25 p.m. near exit 5 on Interstate 70. The drug is illegal in the United States, however, it is legal in many European and Africa counties and is popular among Muslims who use it to ward off hunger when fasting during religious observances. Osman Abdi, 42, and Shukri Abdi, 50, were released, due to the state police laboratory's inability to adequately field test the substance. Neither have been formally charged. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service were contacted and verified that the two were in the country legally. [continues 484 words]
