Two men were killed in Hartford in a few-hour span Friday into Saturday. Six people were shot, two fatally, in separate narcotics-related shootings in Hartford Friday night and Saturday morning, police said. As of Sunday morning, victim identifications were being withheld, but Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley said at least one of the victims was from out of state. Foley said the two shootings immediately appeared to be narcotics related, with heroin, cocaine and other drugs found at the scene. Police said they believed multiple guns were involved and at least one of the shootings was described as a "gunfight." [continues 516 words]
Wayne County Sheriff Carey Winders knows that the two chief money makers for gangs are drug pushing and the illegal sale of weapons. To stop the flow of drugs and weapons in the community, Winders tapped 1st Sgt. Max Staps, a former narcotics agent, to lead the newly formed Wayne County Sheriff's Office Gang Task Force. Staps, who officially took the helm Dec. 4, is used to rounding up drug dealers. He plans to use his expertise to put a dent in the drug and weapons trade and the gang population. [continues 532 words]
Clutching a large white check for their share of $1.2 million seized from drug dealers, Goldsboro Police Chief Tim Bell and Wayne County Sheriff Carey Winders vowed to continue their fight to eliminate drugs. Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge John Emerson presented checks to Bell and Winders for $260,937.63. The checks were handed out on the second floor of City Hall at 11:30 a.m. Friday. The checks distributed represented the departments share of money seized from drug traffickers, Emerson said. The money was seized in several states including Georgia and North Carolina and was part of an investigation conducted by the DEA and the Goldsboro-Wayne County Drug Squad, Emerson added. "Drug traffickers sell their drugs here and then the money is brought back across the country into Mexico," Emerson said. "If we don't get the drugs and they've already sold the drugs then we are trying to intercept that money coming back, so they can't use that money to buy more drugs and bring it back to the states." [continues 380 words]
Wayne County Sheriff's Office officials have several leads, but the identities of those responsible for growing more than 21,000 marijuana plants seized in recent months remain a mystery. Wayne County Sheriff Carey Winders said Friday no arrests have been made in the cases, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. "We're working on that," Winders said. "It's very hard to find who grows this marijuana. It's mostly Hispanics who set the plots up." A total of 15,284 plants were seized in June during an aerial search conducted by the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, National Guard and the State Bureau of Investigations. The sheriff's search and rescue team, volunteers and the Goldsboro-Wayne County Drug Squad also assisted. [continues 448 words]
Police detectives found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in a house owned by Gov. Bill Janklow after a fire destroyed other buildings on the Sioux Falls farmstead last week. Tenants rent the property from the governor. Police and fire crews were called to the site on West Benson Road in northwest Sioux Falls on Friday morning as fire burned a horse barn and storage shed. Janklow said he was "furious" about the discovery of drugs on his property. "They are doing drugs around little kids. It's sad that my building had to burn down to catch them," he said [continues 409 words]
A Republican lawmaker who is Rapid City's former police chief has introduced a bill to allow a person charged with marijuana possession to present a medicinal need for the drug as a legal defense. The bill will be discussed in the House Judiciary Committee this morning. The measure stops short of legalizing medicinal marijuana. A bill that would have legalized the drug for medicinal use died earlier this week in a Senate committee. Rep. Tom Hennies' bill would allow medical necessity to be used as a defense in cases involving possession of marijuana, if a person: [continues 611 words]
South Dakotans support the legalization of medical marijuana and industrial hemp, according to a statewide poll sponsored by two marijuana reform groups. But House Republican Leader Bill Peterson of Sioux Falls said lawmakers will likely proceed very cautiously on any legislation to approve medical marijuana or industrial hemp. The telephone survey of 505 registered voters in South Dakota showed that: More than 80 percent would support the use of medical marijuana. 85 percent would support allowing farmers to grow industrial hemp. [continues 644 words]
A South Dakota lawmaker says he will introduce a bill during the next legislative session that would legalize marijuana for certain medical purposes. Rep. Ron Volesky, a Huron Democrat who is a candidate for the state Senate, said he's been studying the issue for some time. "I am not open to decriminalizing marijuana -- period. This issue is about trying to help a few citizens who could benefit from this legislation, like those with cancer or glaucoma," Volesky said. "If we approach this issue with an open mind, reasonably, we could draft and pass legislation in this area that could be of some benefit to people in this state." [continues 486 words]
Matthew Ducheneaux wasn't worried when he was arrested last month for smoking marijuana in Yankton Trail Park. The quadriplegic, who suffers violent spasms, had a prescription for the drug, signed by a local doctor. Or so he thought. Now the 36-year-old Sioux Falls man faces misdemeanor drug possession charges, and the physician who signed the prescription is under scrutiny by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Ducheneaux said he was upfront with his physician, Dr. Robert Seidel, after he discovered the benefits of smoking pot in 1994. [continues 1502 words]
Makers of the illegal drug methamphetamine are targeting farm fields in the rural Midwest as a source for the chemicals they need to run their processing labs. Anhydrous ammonia, a nitrogen-based fertilizer, can be used as an ingredient in the drug. Law enforcement officials in South Dakota and Iowa say the Midwest's growing problem with meth manufacturing has spawned a trend of ammonia thefts from farmers' fields, where trailers carrying the chemical often are parked overnight. "We're aware of an increased risk of theft and trying to provide some public education," said Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead. [continues 683 words]
Sioux Falls police are being scrutinized for employing a controversial method of drug investigation known as "knock-and-talks." Police officials are reluctant to discuss the technique but admit they have used it to uncover drugs and make arrests. Simply put, police knock on someone's door, then try to persuade whoever answers to allow officers to search the home, typically for drugs or other contraband. Police don't want the public to know about knock-and-talks because the technique takes advantage of people's ignorance of their rights, civil libertarians say. [continues 738 words]
