GRANT COUNTY MAKES RARE DRUG ARRESTS

HYANNIS (AP) - It had been 10 years since anyone was arrested for drugs in
Grant County, but in the last 30 days the sheriff has been busy, arresting
six people in three separate drug busts.

With only about 800 people living in the Sandhills county, Sheriff Mark
Crouse did not worry much about drugs in his jurisdiction until recently.

"We handle traffic cases, accidents, domestic disturbances, trespassers and
game violations," Crouse said. "We just don't have much drug activity up here."

But since mid-November, Crouse has seen enough drugs to raise concern.

The first drugs were found at Hyannis High School when a locker was
searched based on a tip about students with drugs. Two students were cited
for possession of drug paraphernalia and less than an ounce of marijuana.

Then on Nov. 20 Crouse found a vial of methamphetamine hidden in the door
panel of a pickup truck stopped for speeding six miles east of Hyannis.

The latest bust occurred Dec. 1 after Crouse was told by South Dakota
police that three men may be in his county transporting marijuana from
Colorado to South Dakota.

When he stopped a car that had failed to dim its headlights, he realized he
had the suspects.

Since Grant County doesn't have a jail, the suspects in the recent drug
busts have been held either at the Box Butte County Jail, 57 miles west in
Alliance, or the Custer County Jail, 118 miles east in Broken Bow.

Grant County used to have one jail cell, but the fire marshal condemned it
in 1976 and it hasn't been used since.

The sheriff's office has just two employees, Crouse and a deputy, to patrol
the more than 1,000 square miles of Grant County and the southern end of
Sheridan County.

Crouse credited the recent string of drug arrests on networked
law-enforcement agencies that exchange intelligence.