36 individuals arrested on drug charges in Louisiana

A total of 36 individuals were arrested on drug charges over a two-day period beginning on a recent Monday and ending the next day. The drug charges arrests took place in Natchitoches Parish. Local police there say the operation was one of the largest the Louisiana town has ever seen.

Seventy warrants were served and six homes were searched during the drug enforcement operation. Sheriff’s deputies working in conjunction with representatives from the Natchitoches Drug Task Force carried out the campaign. Among the various items seized were three vehicles, three guns and some marijuana. Two grams of meth, Hydrocodone, Ecstasy and Xanax were also seized. The individuals who were arrested face a wide variety of drug possession, drug distribution, other drug-related charges and other types of criminal allegations.

The police chief said that many of the arrests were born out of investigations into citizen complaints. The police chief said that hours of investigative work tend to go into a drug charges arrest, including surveillance and undercover operations. In order to get a warrant, officers have to do a lot of investigating, so they can compile a solid case that will not fall apart in court, the chief said.

Depending on the facts and circumstances surrounding an arrest for drug charges in Louisiana, the threat and severity of potential punishments for the accused vary. Surrounding facts are also likely to affect the criminal defense strategy that one may choose to employ during the litigation of such a case. In cases in which the prosecution has strong factual allegations against the accused, for example, he or she may wish to enter into a plea-bargaining deal and plead guilty to one or more charges in exchange for a reduction in punishment or for having one or more charges dropped.

Source: arklatexhomepage.com, “Drug bust in local historic town nets dozens of arrests”, Stephanie Claytor, June 3, 2014