NARCOTICS ARRESTS SLOW DRUG TRAFFIC

NEWKIRK -- Just after 6 a.m. Wednesday, officers from eight agencies began
executing 35 arrest warrants stemming from an undercover operation starting
several months ago.

The operation centered in Blackwell, but carried over into Ponca City with
multiple arrests in both cities. Virtually every warrant was for felony
distribution of narcotics.

Investigator James Leone of the District Attorney's Drug Task Force was the
officer in charge of the operation. Leone said, "We had to coordinate a
simultaneous execution of felony warrants at multiple locations within the
public housing complex. This was a very intensive operation that involved
video surveillance of drug transactions involving methamphetamine,
marijuana and cocaine.

"This operation involved numerous public housing apartments within 1000
block of South 10th in Blackwell and we believe we have taken a substantial
amount of illegal drugs off the street in the Kay County area."

District Attorney Mark Gibson said, "This operation has been a focus of our
drug task force for the last several months. The public housing authorities
have been, extremely cooperative in our efforts to eliminate drugs from the
public housing areas.

"Distributing drugs within 2,000 feet of a public housing area doubles the
punishment The work of our officers on this operation certainly will have a
significant impact on the safety of public housing projects in this area."

Gibson also stated that other arrest warrants would be forthcoming in the
next several days.

Participating agencies included the District Attorney's Drug Task Force,
Blackwell Police Department, Kay County Sheriff's Department, Ponca City
Police Department, Newkirk Police Department, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics,
Oklahoma Department of Corrections, and the Kaw Nation Police Department.

Related Incidents

In related events, officers from the Kay County Sheriff's Office, the
Eighth District Attorney's Drug Task Force, and the White Eagle Police
Department seized four methamphetamine labs in the last two days. The first
three labs were seized in Ponca City and Ponca Tribal land. The Eighth
District Drug Task Force has two officers certified to process and destroy
clandestine methamphetamine laboratories.

At the request of the White Eagle Police, the District Attorney's Drug Task
Force and Kay County Sheriff's Department assisted the White Eagle Police
in seizing and destroying two labs on Indian land. The labs were discovered
after a cooperative investigation between all three agencies after an
investigation that began just outside of Ponca City.

The fourth lab was seized after deputies from the Kay County Sheriff's
Department investigated suspicious activity in rural Kay County near
Newkirk. The Kay County Sheriff's Department called the District Attorney's
Drug Task Force to assist and process the clandestine lab.

Concerning the lab seizures, Gibson said, "One of the objectives of our
drug task force is to oversee cooperation between all agencies in combating
drug activity. Methamphetamine labs are extremely mobile. One of these
investigations took place in three separate jurisdictions, which
illustrates the importance of interagency cooperation. The Kay County
Sheriff's Department was instrumental in both of these investigations and
these successful operations were the result of the excellent relationship
we have with the Kay County Sheriffs' Department."

Kay County Sheriff Craig Countryman said, "Deputies Terry Rose and Bill
Grose put in extra effort while on routine patrol and it continues to pay
off with taking dangerous labs off of the streets. We have several rural
co-ops in Kay County that store anhydrous ammonia This is an important
ingredient in the manufacturing of methamphetamine. I think my deputies
lead the state in the interdiction of methamphetamine labs at anhydrous
ammonia theft sites. Our cooperative relationship with the District
Attorney Drug Task Force is a great benefit to Kay County."