Agents fight drugs by identifying major distributors
By By Fredie Carmichael / staff writer
May 16, 2004
Every day as people drive to work and school, thousands of dollars worth of cocaine, methamphetamine and other illegal drugs are delivered to Lauderdale County, according to local law enforcement officers.
The same thoroughfares that local residents use are peppered with dealers, distributors and users. It's a sight more suited for Hollywood screenwriters and big cities, not Meridian.
Nearly two years ago, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agents, with the help of others, were able to stop a major drug operation here.
They caught up with Michael Lee Hodges, a drug lord who ran a major drug and theft ring that spanned from Mississippi to California. Hodges and members of his ring were arrested and later indicted. Hodges is now serving a life sentence.
MBN agents say their investigation of Hodges began when they intercepted a 6-pound package of methamphetamine sent through the mail.
Local drug enforcement
Nichols says there are other drug traffickers in the area who need to be stopped.
That's the main goal of the six-agent team at the MBN's Meridian office that spearheaded the investigation of Hodges. The investigation later expanded to include the IRS, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The local office represents nine counties in East Central Mississippi and is one 12 offices in the state.
Two local agents who worked the case, Nichols and Allen Ward, recently received the MBN's "Outstanding Case in the Southern District" award for 2003.
The Meridian District also received awards for the state's "Case of the Year" in 2001 and 2002. Ward was named MBN's "Agent of the Year" last year, while the Meridian District was named "District of the Year."
The agency has presented 91 cases to grand juries since Jan. 1, including 10 in Lauderdale County. Statewide in 2004, drug arrests for the first four months of the year are 26 percent higher than the same period last year 950 compared to 753.
While the East Mississippi Drug Task Force handles most street-level drug problems in Lauderdale County, MBN agents focus on upper-level distributors of illegal drugs, like Hodges.
The agency also works street-level cases in surrounding counties that do not have drug task forces.
MBN agents were able to tie Hodges to a ring of drug traffickers operating from San Diego to Mississippi. They began working leads on the case in March 2002.
Hodges was later found guilty of all 10 counts against him five involving the transport and sale of illegal drugs, five involving money-laundering. In addition to the life sentence, Hodges was ordered to forfeit more than $1.6 million in cash and assets made through the sale of drugs in Mississippi between 1987 and his 2002 arrest.
Drug problem
Nichols said many people may not be aware of the drug problems that local law enforcement officers face on a daily basis. It's a problem in big cities and small ones.
Just last month, a group of citizens in the Whynot community in southeast Lauderdale County sought help for a drug problem in their neighborhood. The neighbors that it led to a series of drive-by shootings.
While no one was injured in the alleged shootings, it scared the residents into attending a regular Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors meeting to ask for help.
Capt. Leonard Harrison, head of the MBN's Meridian office, said shootings and other crimes are common in areas where drug traffickers operate. We welcomes comments from the public.
And, Nichols said, sometimes the arrests of local dealers helps identify major dealers, as in the Hodges case.
