Drug bust removes marijuana, meth from Lone Star streets

In a move that highlights
the department’s efforts to
squelch the drug issue in
Lone Star, the Lone Star
Police Department made
good progress with a
major drug bust on Jan. 6.
According to LSPD
Chief Larry Fleet, the
department had been
tracking a potential suspect
for several weeks.
“Sergeant Brett Gutierrez
took the lead on this case,
and developed a confidential
informant over the
course of the investigation,”
said Fleet. Through
the investigation, the
department was able to set
up “buys” with the suspect,
and gathered enough
information to execute a
warrant on Jan. 6.
On Jan. 6, members of
the department, with
assistance from other local
agencies, executed a warrant
at a residence on
Avery Lane in Lone Star,
where they found the suspect,
Keenan Ector in possession
of large amounts of
marijuana. Ector, a convicted
felon, was also in
possession of a firearm,
which is illegal. Law
enforcement also confiscated
several bags of methamphetamine,
which is
what the undercover buyer
had purchased from Ector.
In addition to the drugs
and firearm, law enforcement
found scales for
weighing the drugs, along
with $1,586 in cash, some
of which matched the
money used by LSPD in
the undercover buys.
Aiding Gutierrez in the
bust were Lone Star officers
Steven Blythe,
Stephen Rathbun, Brian
Foster, and Chief Fleet.
They were joined by Chief
Billy Weatherford of the
Omaha Police
Department, Chief Tobias
Frazier of the
Daingerfield-Lone Star
ISD Police Department,
and Sergeant Ross
Dickson, of the Morris
County Sheriff ’s
Department. Fleet was
extremely proud of the
work the department did
on the case. “The guys did
an excellent job with executing
the warrant. It was a
good experience for us, as
we always try to learn
from each situation,” said
Fleet.
Ector was transported to
Morris County Jail, where
he was booked on charges
of possession of a firearm
by a felon, two counts of
delivery of a controlled
substance, and a count of
possession of a controlled
substance. Fleet stated that
the early morning bust
“should slow down the
drug traffic in Lone Star,”
adding that the department
believed Ector to be
a driving force in the city’s
drug traffic.
In a true show of karma,
Fleet displayed one of the
$100 bills that was confiscated
from the scene. “It
would seem that he
(Ector) was the victim of
counterfeiting, as one bill
was marked with ‘For
Motion Picture Use Only,’”
said Fleet, indicating that
Ector was apparently given
a counterfeit bill for the
purchase of drugs. Fleet
added, “See, it is not only
the good guys who get
taken advantage of.”
The estimated street
value of the drugs confiscated
in Friday’s raid was
believed to be at least
$3,000, according to Fleet.