An eight-month investigation culminated Tuesday with the arrest of 20 people throughout southeast Kansas.
On Wednesday, Kansas Attorney General Steve Six released some of the details surrounding the investigation that saw 10 search warrants executed in Chanute, Iola, Stark, Paola and Fort Scott. Six said that prosecutors from the AG’s office joined with 13 other law enforcement agencies involved in the drug sweep.
Prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office charged 20 people with manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of the materials to make meth, possession of meth, conspiracy to distribute meth and other crimes. Seventeen of those individuals were arrested Tuesday.
Two other individuals were arrested last week after a shoot-out with agents from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation in rural Neosho County. One other was arrested on probable cause and charges are pending. The name of that person was not released pending the filing of those charges.
“Meth ruins lives, destroys families and makes our communities less safe,” Six said. “Law enforcement put their lives in danger every day to stop meth manufacturing and track down on drug trafficking and sales organizations.”
The charges range from conspiracy to manufacture of a controlled substance to possession of Ephedrine, Pseudoephedrine and conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Those charges stem from law enforcement’s belief that those arrested were obtaining large quantities of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine to cook methamphetamines and sell the product around southeast Kansas, according to Ashley Anstaett, director of communications for the Kansas Attorney General’s office.
“The Southeast Kansas Drug Task Force should be credited a lot for this,” Anstaett said. “Both us and other offices, including the AG's office is working hard to make sure that the crimes they uncover get prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Charges against Duane Eugene Lansdown and Justin Chad Seabolt last week were also part of this anti-meth operation. Additional arrests and charges are expected.
Six also said that the Kansas Meth Initiative provided $1 million in additional funding to help provide two full-time prosecutors to the Southeast Kansas Drug Task Force.
“This large meth bust, which started with good police work and was executed because law enforcement agencies worked together, is a perfect example of how beneficial programs like the Kansas Meth Initiative and the Southeast Kansas Drug Taskforce can be to the safety and health of our communities,” Six said. “It also demonstrates what great work law enforcement officers can do when given the resources they need to fight crime.”
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