Tag Archive for: drug trafficking

“Life is tough. It’s even tougher if you’re stupid.”

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NEMiss.News Bogue and McCammon arrested

 

An odd-ball series of crimes in five or more north Mississippi counties required attention from several law enforcement agencies during the first two weeks of March.

Two individuals are in custody on a variety of felony charges. Apparently, the two individuals know one another, but it is unclear whether they were working together. One may simply have been a victim of the other. The known facts raise questions about whether the two miscreants were dim-witted, chemically impaired or just somehow lacked the skills required for a successful life in crime.

The twisted tale goes like this:

NEMiss.News Kenneth Bogue

Kenneth Bogue

Thursday, March 2, Marshall County

On Thursday, March 2, Kenneth Bogue, Jr. appeared before Third District Circuit Court Judge Kent Smith in Holly Springs, Marshall County. Bogue had been convicted in Judge Smith’s court at an earlier date, and the purpose of the March 2 hearing was for sentencing.

  • Judge Smith sentenced Bogue to 20 years in the Department of Corrections (DOC).
  • But, then Smith suspended the sentence, allowing Bogue a form of “house arrest” that gave Bogue limited freedom of movement while wearing an electronic tracking bracelet on his ankle.
  • The deal was that if Bogue got in trouble, the court would then go ahead and remand him to DOC for his 20 year sentence.
  • A DOC officer locked the tracking bracelet on Bogue’s leg and released him near the Love’s Truck Stop in Holly Springs that same afternoon.

A few hours later – 6:30 p.m, March 2, Union, Panola Counties

  • A 2012 Freightliner truck tractor was stolen from where its owner had parked it near the Walmart in Holly Springs.
  • Later still, on the same March 2, the same Freightliner truck tractor was seen at some storage units in Etta in Union County. Someone had broken into the storage units. Union County deputies, when they reviewed the security video at the Etta facility, spotted the Freightliner on the video.
  • Law enforcement officers had begun to suspect Bogue had stolen the truck, but did not know for sure at that point. Data from the tracking bracelet showed Bogue had gone to Batesville in Panola County.
  • It was later learned that Bogue had cut the tracking bracelet from his leg. It was found in a road ditch in Panola County.

It was, indeed, Bogue driving the Freightliner spotted in Etta, and:

  • A short distance from Etta, near Highway 349 and Highway 30, Bogue spotted an empty 48-foot 2019 Great Dane flatbed trailer sitting near the road.
  • He hooked the flatbed to the stolen Freightliner and stole the Great Dane trailer, too.

One might say Bogue was on a  pretty good roll for a small-time player in the tricky game of larceny.

Friday night, March 3, Benton County

The next night, Friday March 3, law officers spotted the Great Dane trailer parked at Christy’s Truck Stop in Hickory Flat in Benton County. They recovered the trailer.

Tuesday, March 7, Union County

Four days later, Tuesday March 7, someone spotted a Freightliner truck tractor on a side road near the Myrtle-Poolville Road. It was stuck in the mud and out of fuel.

NEMiss.News Tindall McCammon

Tindall McCammon

Wednesday March 8, Union County

The next day, Wednesday March 8, a Union County deputy spied a blue Toyota pickup with an expired license tag. The deputy made a traffic stop. The driver of the pickup was Tindall McCammon, age 51.

  • The deputy discovered McCammon was in possession of a quantity of methamphetamine, and may have been impaired.
  • He also had in his possession a handgun, and was a convicted felon.
  • McCammon was arrested and booked into the Union County jail.

A female passenger was with McCammon when he was stopped. The deputy determined that she was not impaired, so allowed her, with McCammon’s permission, to leave with the blue Toyota pickup. A warrant was secured for a search of McCammon’s home. A much larger amount of methamphetamine was found at the home, enough that McCammon faces charges of trafficking, as well as simple possession.

Thursday, March 9, Tippah County

The Union County Sheriff’s office got a call the next morning, Thursday, March 9, saying that Bogue was at McCammon’s residence at 1152 County Road 50. The report said Bogue was now driving McCammon’s blue Toyota pickup and that he was loading items, including an all-terrain vehicle, onto a trailer. This while McCammon himself was locked snugly away in the Union County Jail.

Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards NEMiss.News

Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards

A number of officers, including Union County Sheriff Jimmy Edwards, sped to the McCammon residence on County Road 50. Edwards spotted Bogue in McCammon’s pickup and gave pursuit. It was raining heavily, and Bogue drove at high speed through a construction site, trying to evade Edwards. When the sheriff slowed up to avoid the possibility of injuring a construction worker, he lost sight of the blue pickup. Edwards and other officers continued searching for Bogue on several roads in that part of the county.

Edwards spotted Bogue again on Highway 2 headed toward Blue Mountain in Tippah County. The sheriff pursued Bogue east on Highway 2 and met a westbound Mississippi Highway patrolman, who turned around and followed Edwards in the pursuit.  Tippah County sheriff’s officers also joined the pursuit.

Finally, Bogue abandoned the Toyota pickup near the Hell Creek Wildlife Management area and fled on foot. Officers of  the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks joined the search. Bogue was found cowering in the weeds a few hundred feet from the Toyota pickup and was arrested by Sheriff Edwards.

In the Jailhouse Now

As fortune would have it, Circuit Judge Kent Smith was holding court at the Union County Courthouse in New Albany that week. It was therefore convenient for the sheriff to march Bogue before Judge Smith in New Albany. Smith immediately remanded Bogue to the Mississippi Department of Corrections to begin serving the 20-years prison term to which Smith had sentenced him on March 2.

McCammon will face charges for drug trafficking and felon in possession of a firearm.

As for Bogue, he could face grand larceny charges for stealing the Freightliner, the flatbed trailer, McCammon’s Toyota pickup; that’s up to the District Attorney and a grand jury. First, of course, is that twenty years he owes Judge Smith.

Several thousand dollars worth of meth is off the streets, and two veterans of the criminal justice system have stumbled into jail yet again.

Sheriff Edwards, reflecting on the events involving Bogue and McCammon, recalled a favorite quote from John Wayne: “Life is tough. It’s even tougher if you’re stupid.”

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Pittsburg bridge collapses hours before Biden touts infrastructure – National & International News – FRI 28Jan2022

NEMiss.News Pennsylvania bridge collapses

 

 

Pittsburg bridge collapses hours before Biden touts infrastructure. Two union votes ahead for Amazon. 20,000 coconuts found full of liquid cocaine.

 

 

NATIONAL NEWS

Pittsburg bridge collapses hours before Biden touts infrastructure

Just hours before President Biden is to speak in Pittsburg about his $1 trillion infrastructure package, a commuter bridge in the city has collapsed. Images went viral online showing the back end of an articulated Port Authority bus dangling precariously over the edge of a collapsed bridge deck.

Fortunately, there weren’t many vehicles on the bridge at the time and emergency services were quick to respond. First responders formed a human chain to help evacuate passengers from the beleaguered bus. Rescuers also had to rappel down about 150 feet to ensure no one was trapped under the collapsed portion of the bridge. Officials have reported no fatalities from the incident, but said “slips and falls” had caused some injuries.

Later today, President Biden will be in the city speaking about the infrastructure package he signed into law in November. The bill includes $110 billion in spending to improve roads and bridges. Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said it’s “critical that we get this funding, and we’re glad to have the president coming today”. The bridge that collapsed today passed an inspection last September.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

 

Two union votes ahead for Amazon

Retail giant Amazon is facing upcoming unionization votes at two of its warehouses, one in Bessemer, AL, and another in Staten Island, NY. The vote in Bessemer will be a do-over after the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Amazon had interfered in a vote that took place at that facility last year. The vote last year overwhelmingly rejected the proposition to join a labor union. But pro-union activists said that Amazon co-opted the vote in a way that made it look as though Amazon was running the ballot itself. Many Bessemer workers have since said they were intimidated by Amazon’s tactics and would vote in favor of the union if given another chance.

In Staten Island, workers at another Amazon warehouse have also just won approval for a vote to create a workers’ union. Christian Smalls, a former employee of that warehouse, is the leading organizer of the vote. Smalls was fired in 2020 for protesting working conditions and a lack of COVID safety at the warehouse.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

Related: The ongoing, 10-month long coal miner strike in Alabama you’ve never heard of.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

20,000 coconuts found full of liquid cocaine

Drug traffickers are nothing if not inventive. Colombian officials inspecting a ship’s cargo in Cartagena discovered nearly 20,000 coconuts filled with liquid cocaine. The ship was bound for Genoa, Italy. Colombian officials alerted Italian authorities to be on the look out for the shipment’s intended recipients.

This isn’t the first time that drug traffickers have smuggled their wares inside fruit. In a previous instance, Spanish authorities discovered 60 grams of liquid cocaine hidden inside a shipment of coconuts. At a food market in Madrid, police discovered a shipment of pineapples containing 65 kilos of cocaine. 

In 2020, British police found over $5 million worth of cocaine secreted inside hollowed-out potatoes and yams from Jamaica. 

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

 

 

Please share any thoughts, comments or questions in the Comments section below!

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Drought-driven water wars brew on West Coast – National & International News – TUES 8Jun2021

Water wars brew in Oregon. Feds recover half of Colonial Pipeline ransom. FBI-run messaging app sting nets more than 800 arrests globally.

 

NATIONAL NEWS

Drought-driven water wars brewing on West Coast

In rural southern Oregon and Northern California, antigovernment protesters seem to be gearing up for confrontations with federal authorities in the drought-stricken area. Small groups of protesters have gathered at the headgates of the Klamath Basin reservoir and are threatening to release water to farmers that rely on the reservoir for irrigation. Previous actions, such as one that took place in 2001, have sparked standoffs with federal agents.

The federal Bureau of Reclamation have said that they would not be releasing water from the reservoir, which is at its lowest level in years. The bureau made this decision to protect an endangered species of suckerfish, whose only remaining habitat is in the reservoirs. The suckerfish have a spiritual significance for local Klamath tribes.

A federal court has ruled that the interests of groups upstream, including the tribes, should take precedence over those downstream. This means that authorities must deny water to groups downstream who rely on in order to keep enough water in the system to ensure the survival of the suckerfish. The downstream groups include farmers and other tribes who depend on fishing. The tribes fear that the drought will endanger a local run of salmon on which they depend.

Water wars

The conflicting interests of the upstream and downstream groups, combined long-standing tensions between local militias and law enforcement, may potentially lead to a showdown. Some of the groups declare affiliation with Ammon Bundy, of Bundy Ranch fame. In 2016, Bundy lead a group that illegally occupied federal land and facilities at a wildlife refuge for over a month. After a shootout with authorities, Bundy was arrested but acquitted on all counts.

Despite the Klamath protesters having pledged their allegiance to Bundy, and their claims that he will soon be joining them, Bundy has so far been a no-show. This might be because Bundy is currently running for governor of neighboring Idaho.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

 

Feds manage to recover most of the Colonial Pipeline ransom

The newly-formed Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force has managed to take back about half of the $4.4 million in ransom paid to the DarkSide ransomware group who shut down the Colonial oil pipeline last month. In all, the task force managed to recover about $2.3 million.

The announcement comes on the day that Colonial’s CEO is addressing Congress about his company’s handling of the attack, and why they decided to pay the ransom. The federal government has discouraged companies from paying up in such cases since an easy payout only encourages ransomware groups to carry out more attacks.

The more interesting question is how the task force was able to recover any of the funds at all. Recoveries of ransomware payments are extremely rare. Colonial paid the ransom in the form of 75 BitCoin. BitCoin’s decentralized and encrypted network should ensure that only the owners of the BitCoin (in this case the hackers), should have had access to it. Simply put, BitCoin’s security is using encryption keys that owners have to share with recipients to complete a transaction.

Experts say there are only three possibilities. The first is that one of the members of the ransomware group came forward to help the feds. The second is that the criminals somehow got careless. It’s possible that the hackers had perhaps e-mailed the keys to other members of the group. Using search warrants, the feds would have been able to access those e-mails, and thus the money. The third possibility is that BitCoin itself might have cooperated with the feds to help them recover the funds.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

FBI entraps international criminals using encrypted app ploy

Authorities have arrested hundreds of criminals across the world in a global sting operation. The operation was made possible by an encrypted messaging app, called ANOM. Criminals commonly use such apps to ensure that their communications are secure. What the criminals didn’t know was that ANOM was run by the FBI.

A joint operation between the FBI and Australian authorities distributed devices with the ANOM app to criminal organizations through informants. The devices eventually found in their way into the hands of members of about 300 gangs in 100 countries. This allowed the authorities to monitor messages and other communications about drug deals, money laundering, and murder plots.

During the sting, authorities in 16 countries arrested about 800 gang and mafia members. In addition, they seized homes, cars, money, guns, and at least 8 tons of cocaine.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

 

 

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Union Sheriff’s Department seizes $65,000 in codeine cough syrup, $9,000 cash

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The Union County Sheriff’s Department seized approximately $65,000 worth of codeine early Wednesday, plus nearly $9,000 in cash.

Sheriff Jimmy Edwards said deputies pulled a 2013 Cadillac over on I-22 west bound near the Myrtle exit about 3:30 a.m. He said deputies noticed the car was driving recklessly and weaving some.

In the vehicle were Scotty George, 35, and William Douglas, 28, both of Memphis.

When deputies asked to search the car, they refused that so K-9 officer Caesar was brought in. Edwards said the dog turned up a misdemeanor amount of marijuana in the vehicle but the major hit was on the trunk.

“In the trunk they had nine cases with 12 one-pint bottles of codeine solution each and one case containing 20 one-pint bottles,” he said. “Codeine is a Schedule V narcotic and it’s pretty popular nowadays to drink, smoke with or mix with.”

Mixing codeine cough syrup with drinks such as Sprite and sometimes hard candy like Jolly Ranchers is popular, especially in urban areas, and is known as “slurpin’,” “sippin’” or “sizzurp.”

Codeine is typically used as a cough suppressant while promethazine can be sold under the brand name of Phenergan, used for cold, allergy and other antihistamine-sensitive symptoms.

Edwards said the cough syrup form can sell on the street for from $250 to $600 a pint.

Edwards said he believes the two picked up the codeine in Atlanta and were returning to Memphis.

Officers also seized $8,995 in cash from the two suspects.

Edwards said due to the large amount of codeine, the two are being charged with drug trafficking. No bond had been set at midday Wednesday but Edwards added the two have criminal histories including a variety of charges.

Edwards praised the work of K-9 Caesar and his handler, deputy Chris Whiteside. “We’ve only had him (Caesar) about nine months and he has already made several felony arrests,” Edwards said. “He works a regular shift and is more than paying for himself.”

 

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Court sentences Carruthers to 160 years for criminal enterprise

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Third District Circuit Court Judge Kent E. Smith sentenced a local man considered by law enforcement to be an organized crime figure to 160 years in prison this past week.

A Union County jury found Walter “Cookie” Carruthers guilty of drug trafficking while within 1,500 feet of a church or school, while in possession of a firearm and while being a convicted felon. There was a separate charge for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Police Chief Chris Robertson said they consider this a major victory for law enforcement. “It is rare to see this kind of sentence in a non-capital case,” he said.

The conviction is the culmination of nearly three years’ work and involves one trial with a hung jury and related jury tampering charges.

The chief said the case began in July 2018 after Carruthers was paroled on a previous charge.

He moved to 706 Glade Street, down from the Clark Street intersection and almost immediately, police began to get complaints from neighbors about the location and possible criminal activity.

Robertson said his department began an investigation and surveillance, but that was difficult because Carruthers was cautious. He had sentries around the area and it was not easy to find informants to help may drug buys.

By this time, police believe, Carruthers was selling drugs on a fairly large scale, running a fencing operation for stolen goods sometime traded for drugs, and even involved in prostitution.

“They were much more organized,” he said. “By this time it was a full-blown criminal organization.”

The break actually came through a separate burglary investigation.

The suspect, Dorian Robertson, confessed to burglary and admitted to trading items to Carruthers for drugs as well at taking some to Game Stop to sell.

Robertson said they obtained a search warrant in October 2018 and went to the house with police, the special response team, Mississippi Highway Patrol officers and sheriff’s deputies.

“We arrested Carruthers, Reggie Boles and Clay Potts,” the chief said. “We also recovered a large amount of meth.” The quantity of drugs was great enough to warrant a trafficking charge rather than possession or sales.

Officers also recovered firearms and other stolen items, ownership for some that still has not been determined.

Carruthers first faced trial in March 2020, right before the pandemic shut things down, but that trial resulted in a hung jury.

It was later alleged that Carruthers, through his sister, approached a juror and may have contacted more than one. Jury tampering charges are still pending from that.

In the second trial, the jury was only out about an hour and 20 minutes, the chief said. A large part of that time was just doing the necessary paperwork, he added.

The reason for the lengthy prison term is partly because the crimes were within 1,500 feet of New Birth Church, Wells Chapel Church and Rainbow Learning Center. That brings an enhanced penalty, doubling the usual sentence.

In fact, the trafficking charge brought a 40-year sentence with three enhancements adding 40 more each, to be served consecutively. There was also a 10-year sentence for the firearm possession but that is to be served concurrently.

Because Carruthers qualifies as a habitual offender, barring appeals or some legislative action, he will have to serve the full 160 years – or as long as he lives – without being eligible for parole.

“The most important point is that in order for law enforcement, for everybody, to be successful to stop these type problems, we need to have help from the community,” Robertson said. These days, he said people are more hesitant to serve on juries and he commended those who did.

“No matter what we do, if we don’t have a component from the community there is absolutely nothing we can do,” he said.

“I am very thankful to live in New Albany where people are willing to help,” he continued. “This was not just a dope house but an ongoing criminal operation that was going to put more people at risk.”

“I really enjoyed growing up in New Albany and I want to keep that for our children,” he said. “I feel like if we do our job citizens are always going to back us up. Citizens don’t realize the role they play for us.”

“I’ve been dealing with him (Carruthers) since he was 13,” Robertson said. “This was a big win for all of us.”

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