LPD cuts artery bringing meth to area

By Andrea McCann, staff writer

A yearlong drug investigation by the Linton Police Department came to fruition early this morning with the arrest of two dealers and confiscation of more than $100,000 of uncut methamphetamine in Owen County.

Christopher L. Heacock, 32, of Spencer, and Sandy C. Peters, 25, of Gosport, were arrested and transported to the Owen County jail. Heacock is preliminarily charged with dealing more than 3 grams of methamphetamine, an A felony. He's being held on $100,000 surety or cash bond.

"That's the same as murder, by the way," said LPD Chief Keith McDonald.

Peters is preliminarily charged with possession of more than 3 grams of methamphetamine, a Class C felony. She's being held on $50,000 cash or surety bond.

Both individuals also are preliminarily charged with possession of a Schedule I, II, or III controlled substance.

McDonald said well over 1,000 grams of crank with an estimated street value of more than $100,000 was found in a safe at Heacock's residence on Ramona Road north of Spencer. He said paraphernalia and thousands of dollars in cash also was seized.

Members of the Evansville Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office were involved in the bust, which also was made in connection with the South Central Narcotics Task Force, according to McDonald. He explained that the task force is a multicounty group headed by the Monroe County Prosecutor's Office.

"They're very helpful with a lot of funding involved with large drug investigations we get involved with," he said. "We could not do it without their help."

McDonald said he can't reveal exactly how the investigation began, but he said it started in Linton in July 2004 and has been ongoing since then.

"We started here and worked our way up the chain," he said. "That's what led to Spencer. It was another reason to get DEA involved, too, because we crossed county lines.

"We've probably got 100 hours in this total. It's the biggest hit I've ever seen in this part of Indiana.

"It got so big we didn't have money to front buys. We had to contact the DEA for help.

"I can't say enough about their help and their response. You expect a lot of red tape when you're dealing with a federal agency, but that's not the case with them. They came up with money and manpower."

McDonald said through controlled buys and undercover investigation, they were able to hit Heacock's house with a search warrant last night and this morning.

"We found a large quantity of meth in a safe in the residence," he said. "DEA said it's the highest purity they'd seen."

The chief explained that the meth they found is not what hits the street. He said what they found would've been cut to make it go further.

"This is one of the main veins bringing meth to Greene County," he said. "We've hit this area so hard, we've shut down all the labs in the Linton area. What's started to happen in the last several months is that several veins of traffickers are bringing it in from other areas now. This is one of the main veins.

"Josh Goodman deserves a tremendous amount of credit. He's worked his tail off for over a year now on this. It takes a tremendous amount of patience. Jayson Smith was working with him, but Josh ramrodded it. He's our drug task force officer."

McDonald said the meth operation included a sophisticated security and alarm system around the property. He said there were video cameras and monitors, microphones, screening devices with sensors to detect transmitters, and motion sensors.

"It was very high tech," he said. "It was the most elaborate thing we've ever seen in this part of the state."

A third person, Matthew R. Smith, 20, Bloomington, also was arrested during the bust for visiting a common nuisance. He's being held on a $3,650 cash or surety bond.

The initial hearing for all three individuals is today.