Continued investigation into suspected drug activity as part of Operation Fall Sweep by the Picayune Police Department resulted in the arrest of seven more suspects.
The first set of arrests took place on Oct. 5 just before 3 p.m. when detectives attempted to serve an arrest warrant on a suspect. When officers arrived at the home, they discovered the suspect was not there, but smelled what they suspected to be marijuana coming from the home, said Assistant Chief Jeremy Magri. Officers asked the occupants of the home, located at 703 N. Jackson Ave., to open the door, but they refused, forcing the officers to secure a search warrant.
During that search, the officers saw 27-year-old Candace Neely, of that address, flushing a green leafy substance down the toilet, Magri said.
Neely and 37-year-old Brian Travis, also of that address, were detained while the search continued. According to a release from the department, officers found several hand-rolled cigars and a number of bags, both containing a substance suspected to be marijuana in close proximity to $3,739 worth of cash. Both were arrested for with tampering with physical evidence and possession of a controlled substance and the cash was seized, the release states.
A second case, worked on Oct. 10 at about 11:30 in the morning, began as a traffic stop on a pickup truck for careless driving on Memorial Boulevard. When the officer asked the driver, identified as 42-year-old James Aaron Woulard of 521 Mockingbird Drive, Long Beach, for his driver’s license, Woulard informed the officers that his license was suspended for several traffic violations and that he did not have proof of insurance, the release states.
The officer’s subsequent request to search the vehicle was granted, where he found a bag containing a crystalized substance, 35 pills identified as Tramadol and two suboxone films in Woulard’s wallet, which also contained $459 in cash. Woulard was arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance, two counts of misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, no proof of insurance, driving while license suspended and careless driving. The cash in Woulard’s wallet was seized, the release states.
The third case was the result of an undercover purchase of illegal narcotics, leading to a warrant for 39-year-old Diangelo Edgbar Durr of 307 N. Abrams Ave., Magri said. The release states that the warrant was served on Oct. 11, when officers found Durr at a home on South Main Street. He was taken into custody for the warrant for sale of a controlled substance within 1,500 feet of a school or church.
That same day officers took three more suspects into custody for drug related charges in relation to a separate case. Just before 2:30 that afternoon, the officers witnesses an alleged hand to hand transaction take place at a location along Memorial Boulevard between 19-year-old Lamont McGill Jr., of 608 Lewis Circle and 20-year-old Bacari Tyreke Graham of 135 Margaret St. Officers then stopped a pickup truck occupied by Graham and 19-year-old Stephen Blake Kennedy of 1300 Ausborn Rd., and searched the vehicle, the release states. Inside the vehicle officers found several bags containing a substance believed to be marijuana. Kennedy and Graham were taken into custody for conspiracy to sell a controlled substance within 1,500 feet of a school or church and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute within 1,500 feet of a school or church.
Continued investigation into the case led the officers to the location of McGill, where they found him to be in possession of a large bag containing a substance believed to be marijuana along with a set of digital scales. McGill was arrested for sale of a controlled substance within 1,500 feet of a school or church and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute within 1,500 feet of a school or church.