Recent drug busts yield 34 arrests

Thirty-four people in Southeast Missouri have been arrested this summer as a result of drug investigations by the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force, the Cape Girardeau Police Department reported Thursday.

Darin Hickey, public information officer for the department, said the task force has spent several weeks investigating drug cases throughout the region.

"It's been going on throughout the summer, and (we) have done a couple of operations in the last couple of weeks," he said.

Hickey said more people likely will be arrested as a result of the investigations, which brought together officers from the Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Sikeston, Missouri, police departments; Missouri State Highway Patrol; Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department; and federal agencies.

"We still expect numerous arrests here in the near future with this investigation," Hickey said.

The suspects range in age from 17 to 47, according to a news release from the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Most of them were arrested on drug distribution charges, but during the course of the investigation, a 17-year-old boy was arrested on a charge of unlawful use of a weapon, Hickey said.

Bond in each case ranged from $25,000 to $90,000.

Hickey said he could not estimate the quantity of illegal drugs the investigation and resulting arrests took out of circulation.

"There's no way to know the amount of drugs that we have taken off the street. I would say a large quantity," Hickey said.

epriddy@semissourian.com

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