83 arrested in regional drug sweep

A regional drug sweep brought in 83 suspects Thursday, including a man in Stoddard County who apparently committed suicide in the county jail.

The series of arrests, called the "SEMO Summer Outlaw Roundup" by the SEMO Drug Task Force, included five suspects who allegedly sold drugs to undercover officers in Cape Girardeau from August to December. Six other suspects accused of selling drugs to undercover agents during that time were still at large Thursday evening, said Cape Girardeau Police Department spokesman Cpl. Jason Selzer.

According to a statement issued by the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department, James Dobbs, 43, of Bloomfield, Mo., apparently hanged himself. He had been arrested a few hours earlier on charges of distributing a controlled substance.

After Dobbs was discovered, he was taken by ambulance to the Missouri Southern Healthcare emergency room in Dexter, Mo., where he was pronounced dead, the sheriff's department statement said. An investigation of the death was turned over to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, according to the statement.

Sheriff Carl Hefner could not be reached Thursday afternoon for comment.

The drug charges filed in Cape Girardeau County range from selling a small amount of crack cocaine to accusations that some suspects sold large quantities of psychedelic mushrooms and marijuana.

Action against the suspects was delayed to protect the identity of the undercover officers making the drug buys, Selzer said.

"If you have one person making purchases, once you start making arrests based on that person's testimony, they have to stop," Selzer said.

The investigation of the drug sales was a joint operation of the SEMO Drug Task Force, based in Sikeston, and Cape Girardeau police.

"What we are trying to do at this moment is make it uncomfortable to sell, buy or do drugs in Cape Girardeau," said Capt. Roger Fields of the Cape Girardeau Police Department. "We want to make them go somewhere else to sell their drugs or do their drugs."

Drug investigations take time as officers try to work up to meeting dealers selling larger quantities, Fields said. "You try to capture as much as you can with one case. When all those options have gone awry, that is when we will go through with the warrant," he said. "They are known drug dealers, and it is time they were removed from the street."

The SEMO Drug Task Force enlisted the aid of 12 police agencies from Portageville to Poplar Bluff to Cape Girardeau as part of the drug crackdown, task force director Kevin Glaser said.

"We decided to make a coordinated effort to pick up a number of individuals and do it on a larger scale, a regional basis rather than in times past when we did local raids in Cape Girardeau or Sikeston or whatever," Glaser said. "We hit all these areas simultaneously to create a bigger impact and put a little more pressure on."

The task force was formed after the designation of Southeast Missouri as a high-intensity drug trafficking area during the 1990s. The task force works to build cases that can make an impact on the drug trade, Glaser said.

"We work an area, then let that lay for a little bit and work another area," he said. "We see what we can do, then we come in and try to make arrests like we did today."

Those charged in Cape Girardeau County ranged in age from 20 to 58. Most of the purchases took place inside residences, Selzer said.

Examples of the sales include:

• Mark A. Dirsa, 21, of St. Louis, is accused of selling 110 grams of psilocin mushrooms to an undercover agent Nov. 19.
• Christopher L. Barnes, 23, of 201 Forester, is accused on two counts of selling marijuana, delivering 218 grams to an undercover officer Oct. 10, 108 grams of marijuana Oct. 16, and 3.2 pounds of marijuana Oct. 16.
• Nathan E. Smith, 25, of 409 S. Benton St., is accused of selling 5 grams of crack to an undercover officer Aug. 24.

In other locations, methamphetamine was a major drug purchased by the undercover officers, Glaser said.

"And a lot of times pills are thrown in there," he said. "That is becoming more of problem."

In addition to the drug charges, those arrested in the sweep were wanted on other charges, ranging from failure to pay child support to assault.

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126

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Cape Girardeau charges

The following people were charged with selling drugs in Cape Girardeau to undercover officers during a joint investigation by the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force and the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

• Daniel L. Abner, 24, of 275 W. Forrester, Apt. C4, two counts distributing a controlled substance (mushrooms and marijuana) and one misdemeanor count of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. Bond $25,000. Not in custody.
• Amanda L. Bailey, 23, of 508 N. Clark Ave., Apt. A, two counts of distributing a controlled substance (mushrooms and marijuana) and one misdemeanor count of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. Bond $25,000. Not in custody.
• Christopher L. Barnes, 23, of 201 Forester, three counts of distributing a controlled substance (marijuana). Bond $25,000. Arrested.
• Mandy M. Bond, 32, address unknown, one count of distributing a controlled substance (crack). Bond $10,000. Not in custody.
• James D. Cordia, 58, of Oak Ridge, two counts of distributing a controlled substance (crack). Bond $10,000. Not in custody.
• Mark A. Dirsa, 21, of St. Louis, two counts of distributing a controlled substance (mushrooms and marijuana). Bond $10,000. Not in custody.
• Darrel A. Haynes, 20, of 2835 Whitener St., one count of distributing a controlled substance (cocaine). Bond $10,000. Arrested.
• Elijah K. Holloman, 34, of Portageville, Mo., one count of distributing a controlled substance (crack). Bond $10,000. Not in custody.
• Calvin L. Jackson, 57, of 1108 Independence St., two counts of distributing a controlled substance (crack). Bond $10,000. Arrested.
• Leonard J. Morgan, 39, of 1425 William St., one count of distributing a controlled substance (crack). Bond $10,000. Arrested.
• Nathan E. Smith, 25, of 409 S. Benton St., one count of distributing a controlled substance (crack). Bond $10,000. Arrested.