March 22, 2019
Drug bust yields meth, heroin with street value nearly $500K
Three area men face drug trafficking charges after local, state and federal authorities seized a total of about 13 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and nearly 1 pound of heroin, with a street value in excess of $500,000. On Tuesday, Poplar Bluff Police Detective Corey Mitchell said, the department received information about suspected ongoing drug activity at Gino Wells’ Doniphan residence...
Three area men face drug trafficking charges after local, state and federal authorities seized a total of about 13 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and nearly 1 pound of heroin, with a street value in excess of $500,000.
On Tuesday, Poplar Bluff Police Detective Corey Mitchell said, the department received information about suspected ongoing drug activity at Gino Wells’ Doniphan residence.
Acting on that information, Mitchell said, officers with the police department, SEMO Drug Task Force, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Ripley County Sheriff’s Department and Drug Enforcement Administration went to Wells’ Highway Y residence.
“We made contact with Gino Wells outside the residence,” Mitchell said. “While officers were talking to (him), someone inside the residence threw a black duffle bag off of a balcony” on the side of the house.
Officers, Mitchell said, heard the bag hit the ground and recovered it.
After being told of his rights, Mitchell said, Wells admitted the bag contained a “large quantity of crystal methamphetamine.
“… (He) admitted he was to receive a quantity of the 12 pounds that was inside the bag. … He was to receive three pounds.”
Through the investigation, it was determined the bag belonged to Marcus Nelson, who allegedly had thrown it from the residence, Mitchell said.
Wells, 39; Nelson, 36, of the 1500 block of Nellie Sue Circle; and Jonathan Wayne Morris, 34, of Kennett, were arrested and booked at the Butler County jail.
“It was determined Jonathan was with Marcus when he brought the bag to the residence,” he explained.
A search warrant, Mitchell said, was obtained for the duffle bag.
“During the search of the bag, it revealed approximately 12 pounds of methamphetamine and 12 ounces, three-quarters of a pound, of heroin,” Mitchell said.
Poplar Bluff Police Chief Danny Whiteley said the street value of the drugs is in excess of $500,000, with meth right now going for about $100 per gram and heroin $150 per gram.
The suspected methamphetamine, Mitchell said, was packaged in multiple bags.
“This amount of meth is coming out of the cartel ties in Mexico, as is the heroin,” said Whiteley. “These drug trafficking organizations are inundating the United States with crystal meth, Fentanyl and heroin and anybody that thinks different than that is nuts.”
Established pipelines, according to Mitchell, are being used.
Mitchell said the suspected heroin was in one bag concealed inside a PVC pipe.
Wells subsequently was charged with the Class A felony of second-degree drug trafficking, while Nelson was charged with two Class A felonies of first-degree drug trafficking.
Both men are to appear Wednesday in Ripley County court for arraignment on their charges. Morris had not been charged as of press time.
Mitchell said the investigation continued after the men’s arrests and search warrants were obtained for residences in Poplar Bluff and Fairdealing.
Those residences “belonged to distributors of Marcus Nelson’s drug trafficking organization,” explained Mitchell, who described Nelson as the “sell head” for his organization, with multiple “mid-level dealers” below him.
On Wednesday night, Mitchell said, four search warrants were executed with “just shy of 1 pound of methamphetamine being located at Matthew Stoutt’s residence in the 900 block of 13th Street.”
Based on the investigation, Mitchell said, officers believe Stoutt received the methamphetamine from Nelson within a few days prior of its seizure.
Stoutt is charged with the Class B felony of second-degree drug trafficking in Butler County and is to be arraigned Monday on his charge.
Mitchell said another search warrant was executed at a residence in the 3000 block of Cravens Road, where two firearms were seized.
The guns reportedly were found in a safe after firefighters with the Poplar Bluff Fire Department forcibly opened it.
Mitchell said the investigation remains ongoing and further arrests are anticipated.
Through the “working relationship within Southeast Missouri and all local agencies and the federal agencies out of Cape Girardeau and St. Louis, we are fighting this daily as a joint effort,” Whiteley said.
“As I have said before, we know who most of the scumbag drug dealers are, and we are coming to get you,” Whiteley said. “Eventually, you will pay the piper.”
Officers, Mitchell said, will be seeking federal prosecution against those involved.
“We have assurances from both the St. Louis office of the U.S. attorney and the office at Cape of the assistant U.S. attorneys” regarding federal prosecution, Whiteley said.
“We are going to hunt these people down one by one and prosecute them federally every time we can,” Whiteley added.
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