Prescription painkillers may be replacing illegal narcotics as drugs of choice, a sheriff's narcotics detective said. And users are going through different means to get their hands on the pills - through prescription forgeries, doctor shopping, drug store robberies, home and auto burglaries and thefts from family medicine cabinets, said Detective Jerremy Weaver. For example, grand jurors indicted six people for prescription fraud last week after Weaver accused them of forging a physician's prescription 57 times to get Percocet, a prescription painkiller. [continues 589 words]
More than one-half of the parents of dependent and neglected children admitted abusing alcohol and drugs, reported the Court Appointed Special Advocate of Rutherford County. Rutherford County Juvenile Court Judge Donna Scott Davenport removes about three to six children from their parents' custody each week. CASA volunteers work for the best interest of the child by making recommendations about the child's welfare to Davenport. Of 255 children served by CASA, 156 parents were identified with substance abuse problems. "Drug issues are some of our worst issues," Davenport said. "It's on the incline. We need something more intense for parents to be involved with the court than once every three months as dictated by the statute." [continues 328 words]
When it comes to drug trends, synthetic or man-made drugs are hot while methamphetamine is not. Director Tommy Farmer of the Tennessee Methamphetamine Drug Task Force said the meth epidemic showed a dramatic decrease in manufacturing labs since the state made it tougher last year to buy Ephedrine, the key component of the illegal drug. More than 1,565 labs were seized in the peak year of 2005 while only 210 labs were confiscated this year. Tennessee is still fourth in the nation for confiscation of illegal meth labs. [continues 942 words]
Heroin buys by a Murfreesboro vice detective in April 2005 provided early information that developed into an nationwide investigation targeting dealers, said a Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor. The investigation, nicknamed "Operation Black Gold Rush," resulted in 130 arrests Tuesday after local, state and federal officers served search warrants simultaneously in 15 cities, including Smyrna and La Vergne from the Nashville area. Rutherford County houses searched included: Sanchez, Porto and Veronica Liliana Sanchez Cortez were taken into custody from those homes, said Murfreesboro Vice Lt. Nathan McDaniel. They are illegal immigrants. [continues 515 words]
A high-quality marijuana operation seized Tuesday night at an indoor lab in Auburntown may have brought drug-makers millions of dollars, a Cannon County sheriff's investigator said. When deputies searched the home on state Route 96 East, they confiscated 83 high-quality plants, many with buds on them. Suspected pot-grower Jeffrey R. Bradley, 19, of Long Beach, Miss., was arrested at the home on marijuana chargesby Investigator Roy Sullivan. Investigator Charlie Wilder said the marijuana would bring $6,800 per plant or a total of more than $500,000 if sold in quarter-ounce packages. [continues 406 words]
Homemade methamphetamine labs seemed to disappear in Rutherford County after a state law that went into effect in July made it tougher to buy a key ingredient, a sheriff's narcotics supervisor said. But the "club drug" Ecstasy increased in popularity especially among people in their 20s, said Sgt. Egon Grissom while analyzing trends the unit found during the past year. State law restricted the purchase of ephedrine, which is required to make methamphetamine in homemade labs. "We haven't had a meth lab in quite awhile," Grissom said. "Since July, we haven't had a single meth lab. The new law actually had a big impact." [continues 458 words]
More than a record $3.5 million in illegal drugs never were used in 2004 because the narcotics were confiscated during traffic stops by the sheriff's Interstate Crime Enforcement unit, the supervisor said. Most of the illegal drugs were bound for Atlanta or Nashville for distribution throughout the United States, which impacts Rutherford County directly, said ICE Lt. Chris Haynes. Narcotics delivered to Rutherford County are commonly distributed through Atlanta or Nashville. "Atlanta and Nashville are hubs, and a lot of this large quantity taken to these two cities are broken down into small quantities and shipped back to Murfreesboro and Rutherford County," Haynes said. "It does come back." [continues 344 words]
Explosion Destroyed Apartments WOODBURY - Multiple charges were filed Wednesday against a man accused of manufacturing methamphetamine in his apartment Saturday which ignited and destroyed 15 family residences, authorities said. Robert Wayne Barrett, 15 Maples Apartments, East Main Street, was charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, maintaining a dwelling for keeping or selling a controlled substance, reckless endangerment and possession of drug paraphernalia. Items used specifically to manufacture methamphetamine were found in and near Barrett's apartment, where the fire started, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Agent Jason Wilkerson reported. [continues 257 words]
