Posted at: 11/13/2009 5:38 PM | KSAX.com
By: By Matt Standal
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14 Arrested for Prescription Drug Sales in Glenwood, Starbuck

A major drug bust centered in Glenwood yesterday saw authorities seize fourteen individuals involved in prescription drug trafficking that involved communities across the West Central Minnesota area.

Pope county Sheriff Tom Larson says his deputies repeatedly bought large quantities of morphine and oxycontin from individuals in the Glenwood, Starbuck and Alexandria areas.

The buys allowed the Pope County Sheriff’s department to summon the help of 9 area law enforcement agencies, including the BCA, and West Central Narcotics Task Force and arrest all 14 suspects yesterday.

Eleven of those fourteen suspects made their first appearance in Pope County District Court today. All were arrested on first, through fourth degree illegal drug charges involving the illegal use and sale of federally scheduled prescription drugs and other quantities of illegal drugs including marijuana, methamphetamine and cocaine.

Those arrested include: David Carbone, 55, Glenwood; Earl Williams, 66, Glenwood; Gerald Springer II, 30, Glenwood; Charles Willert, 27, Buffalo Lake; David Kenyon, 45, Glenwood; Christine Dick, 35 Glenwood; Sherice Cooley, 40, Glenwood; Sara Davis-Ninow, 24, Starbuck; Traci Anderson, 41, Glenwood; Jessica Strassburg, 32, Glenwood; and Jacqueline Springer, 28, Glenwood.

The sting happened on Thursday at 7 a.m. with many of the suspects arrested only blocks away from the Glenwood Law Enforcement Center, at the Local Pamida, at the Glenwood Manor Apartments, and other locations in the area.

To complete the investigation, deputies made a number of controlled buys from just a few individuals at first, and then quickly tapped into a long list of local drug dealers, buyers, and users.

The entire investigation took only four weeks, says Pope County Sheriff Tom Larson who hopes to send a clear message to drug users in the area: beware.

"We'll work drugs until there aren't any more around," said Larson. We want to make sure that people understand that if the play with this stuff --- if the get involved in it and we find out about it --- that they're going to go to jail."