Drug investigation nets between 30 and 50 arrests near Fort Leonard Wood

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- Between 30 and 50 people have been arrested on state and federal drug charges in a sting near Fort Leonard Wood that resulted in the discovery of what is believed to be military munitions.

During the two-year investigation, an undercover state trooper purchased heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine and ecstasy.

Law enforcement officers also discovered what is believed to be a live hand grenade and another unspecified military explosive device among other firearms in the arsenal of the suspected drug dealers arrested Wednesday morning.

Numerous civilian contract employees of mess halls at Fort Leonard Wood were among those arrested, but the total number of people being sought is classified and the federal warrants have been sealed, according to Pulaski County Sheriff J.B. King. No military personnel were believed to be among those arrested, he said.

The federal warrants were issued because many of the drug sales allegedly happened at Fort Leonard Wood. Most of the state charges were for felony-level drug possession or drug distribution, carrying penalties between five and 15 years in state prison.

King said about 20 suspects were arrested in Pulaski County and six or seven others in surrounding counties, including five who already had been arrested on unrelated charges.

All but one of the federal suspects were arrested -- the other was already in jail on other charges -- in what King called the county's biggest drug roundup since the 1970s.

"It's always satisfying to take some of the drug pushers out and arrest them," he said. "The drug traffic drives a lot of the other crime in the county."

King said he hopes some of the suspects will be able to bond out since the Pulaski County Jail is already overcrowded and can't handle the influx of new prisoners.

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Information from: Waynesville Daily Guide, http://www.waynesvilledailyguide.com