STATE SWEEPS DRUGS OFF STREETS

Operation Frost Bite involved 55 sheriff's offices and netted 875 drug
arrests statewide.

Law enforcement officers from nearly every parish in the state were combing
the streets before dawn Wednesday in a drug sweep they dubbed Operation
Frost Bite.

When the tallies were made, 55 of the state's 63 sheriffs were represented,
1,000 arrest warrants were issued and more than 875 drug arrests were made,
officials with the Louisiana Sheriff's Association said in a Wednesday
afternoon news conference in West Monroe.

Criminal charges resulting from the six-month investigation ranged from
possession of controlled dangerous substances to possession with intent to
distribute a controlled dangerous substance and illegally manufacturing
methamphetamines.

Sheriffs from Ouachita, Caldwell, East Carroll, West Carroll, Franklin,
Madison, Morehouse, Richland and Union parishes attended the news conference.

Agents in Ouachita Parish have made 52 drug arrests in the last seven days.
Morehouse followed Ouachita with 47 drug arrests; Franklin made 26; Union
20; Richland 19; Caldwell 16; East Carroll 14; Madison 12 and West Carroll
Parish 10.

In several instances, officers went to several addresses before arrests
were finally made.

That was the case with team that included Sgt. Kevin Rutledge of the
Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office.

Rutledge's team conducted fruitless searches at houses in West Monroe and
Monroe before arresting Billy Jerome Sevene, 42, of 1002 Park Ave. No. 6,
Monroe. He was taken to the Ouachita Correctional Center for booking.

He's accused of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy
to distribute cocaine. Bond is $25,500.

Metro agents made what they call "a big" methamphetamines arrest in West
Monroe Tuesday night.

Agents arrested Jose Elias Lopez, 22, of 607 No. 2 Bawcomville, in the
Wal-Mart parking lot in West Monroe. He allegedly had more than 200 grams
of methamphetamine, which agents said would net $28,500 if sold on the
streets, in his possession.

It was later discovered that Lopez is an illegal alien from Mexico.
Officials said Lopez would be prosecuted in federal court.

"This type of drug operation takes a lot of hard work," Ouachita Parish
Sheriff Richard Fewell said.

Fewell said despite the large number of drug arrests statewide, "There will
likely be other drug dealers to come up and replace the people we've just
arrested."

Union Parish Sheriff Bob Buckley, however, said he believes the recent
arrests will curb dope pushing at least momentarily.

"This should help crime go down, because right now, I think the drug
dealers are afraid to sell anything because they don't know who's
undercover," Buckley said.

Allen Parish Sheriff Harold Turner, who is president of the Louisiana
Sheriff's Association, said, "The connection between drugs and crime is
undeniable."

For example, he said, in Orleans Parish prisons, 70 percent of inmates
tested positive for one or more illegal drugs at the time of their arrest
in 2001.

He said law enforcement and correctional officials throughout the state and
nation are seeing the same trend.

"It's staggering to know that the drug problem is so extensive," Turner said.