VAN BUREN COUNTY (WKZO-AM) — Five people are in jail and charges are pending against two others after a drug bust near Hartford.
The Van Buren County Narcotics unit has spent the last year-and-a-half making undercover drug buys in the Hartford and Covert Township areas, using one drug dealer to lead them to another until they were ready to sweep them all up.
They were able to identify nine dealers and this week who were selling marijuana, heroin, crack cocaine and other drugs. Seven of those nine people are in custody.
Officers from the state, county and several townships and cities participated in the sweep.
Some are charged with distribution, others with simple possession.
Four suspects are from Hartford: 36-year-old Freddreka Walker, 39-year-old Tonya Billings, 35-year-old James Payton and 31-year-old Rogelia Reyna.
Three suspects are from Covert: 33-year-old Alfonso Coleman, 51-year-old Lavern Lewis and 43-year-old Kenneth Jeffries.
– John McNeill
