Investigators with the Picayune Police Department arrested four people in two separate cases for drug related offenses in less than an hour.
On Aug. 15, just after 7 p.m. narcotics detectives performed a traffic stop on a vehicle on South Beech Street near Palestine Road for not having a tag, according to a release from the department.
While the investigator spoke with the three occupants, identified as 22-year-old Cody Wayne Ladner of 24946 Highway 43 South, 34-year-old Philon Rasean McKinsie of 603 Charlotte Dr., and 31-year-old Stephenie Lynne Sims of 664 A White Chapel Rd., Carriere, he noticed a glass pipe with a crystal like substance in plain view. A subsequent search of the vehicle found a folded piece of paper containing a substance suspected to be crystal methamphetamine between the driver seat and passenger seat on the floorboard, the release states.
None of the three occupants claimed ownership of the drug and paraphernalia, leading all three to be arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia, the release states.
Ladner was additionally arrested for no tag.
On that same day just before 8 p.m., undercover investigators performed an operation with the Picayune Housing Authority on Lewis Circle. The release states the investigators observed 25-year-old Michael Woodward, of Lot 6 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Poplarville, sell suspected crystal methamphetamine to a confidential source, the release states. Investigators spoke with Woodward and noticed he was holding a bag containing a substance suspected to be marijuana and a glass pipe containing a residue in his hand. A search found a large clear bag with a crystal like substance in his sock, the release states. Woodward was arrested for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute within 1,500 feet of a school or church, sale of a controlled substance within 1,500 feet of a school or church, misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia, the release states.