By Pat Culverhouse
A months-long joint investigation into illegal narcotics trafficking ended late Friday with the arrest of three individuals and the confiscation of a large quantity of drugs.
Webster Parish Sheriff Jason Parker said members of his office’s narcotics division, along with Minden Police Department investigators and DEA task force, seized drugs with a street value of more than $150,000 from a Minden residence.
“These drugs were headed for our streets,” Parker said. “We’re determined to do everything we can to stop the flow of illegal drugs into our parish and our towns.”
Two Minden residents and a Texas man have been taken into custody and are facing a variety of charges. Individuals and charges are:
• James Birden, 40, 700 block Moore St., Minden: possession of crack cocaine w/intent to distribute, possession of marijuana w/intent to distribute, possession of Ecstasy w/intent to distribute and obstruction of justice.
• Teresa Bables, 35, 3300 block Deerfield Dr., Balch Spring, TX: possession of methamphetamines w/intent to distribute, possession of cocaine w/intent to distribute, possession of marijuana w/intent to distribute, possession of Fentanyl w/intent to distribute, resisting an officer by flight and obstruction of justice.
• Jegerwick Hollingsworth, 33, 700 block Jackson St., Minden: possession of methamphetamine w/intent to distribute, possession of cocaine w/intent to distribute, possession of marijuana w/intent to distribute, possession of Fentanyl w/intent to distribute, resisting an officer with force and speeding.
All three are currently housed at Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center. No bond has been set.
Parker said officers seized approximately 10 pounds of methamphetamines, 10 pounds of cocaine, a quantity of marijuana and a large quantity of pills at the Moore St. residence.
“We’re still inventorying what we’ve seized,” Parker said early Saturday.
Friday’s successful bust began with the 10:30 p.m. traffic stop on Interstate 20 by WPSO Sgt. Josh McCormick and Deputy Robert Davis, assisted by MPD Lt. Chris Hammontree and his K9 partner, Tigo.
As a result of the traffic stop and execution of a pre-approved search warrant for the Moore St. address, the investigation concluded with the arrest and drug seizures.
“Our departments have been working this for some time now, and it really points to what we can achieve when agencies come together,” Parker said. “We appreciate all the investigators who worked so hard to get these suspects.”
Minden Chief of Police Jared McIver agreed that combining resources has positive results in the city and parish.
“I think the citizens appreciate it when they see police officers and deputies working together to solve crimes and keep both our city and our parish safer,” McIver said. “We have partnerships that are proving beneficial to all our people.”
Please watch for more information on the investigation and subsequent arrests in Tuesday’s edition of the Webster Parish Journal.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
