EASTERN OKLAHOMA (KFSM) –Drug agents and officers executed 43 arrest warrants Friday morning in eastern Oklahoma following a year-long investigation into a crystal meth ring. Authorities said 32 of the 43 suspects were arrested.
A Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics representative said agents and officers from several departments “fanned out” around 7 a.m. to execute the arrest warrants for defendants on suspicion of selling methamphetamine and prescription drugs in Clayton, Okla., and the surrounding area.
Most of the defendants live in Clayton, but several of them live in Pushmataha, Latimer and LeFlore counties, according to the bureau.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and local law enforcement began investigating the crystal methamphetamine and prescription drug ring centered on Clayton in December 2013.
"It is troubling that in Clayton, Okla., today, we arrested approximately five percent of the entire town population," said Darrell Weaver, the narcotics bureau director. "It shows that methamphetamine problems and dealers do not just magically go away by themselves. It takes law enforcement in a cooperative manner to dismantle these groups that will devour our communities with addictive substances."
Authorities continue to try to find the rest of the 43 suspects. One of them died of natural causes last year, according to the Bureau of Narcotics.
Most of the defendants arrested were booked into the Pushmataha County Jail on suspicion of several drug charges, including illegal distribution of controlled substances.
The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, Clayton Police Department, Pushmataha County Sheriff's Department, District 16 and 17 Drug Task Forces and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol all took part in the operation.
The list below shows who was arrested and who is still at-large, according to state authorities:
Arrested:
Joseph Barlow
Chelsea Boatner
Auboneigh Buchanan
Bruce Colvin
Randy Colvin
Kimberly Conley
James Ellis
Clifton Gilmore
Michael Hilliard
James Kilpatrick
Carolyn McGee
Grace Rendon
Booker Reynolds
Dora Reynolds
Stephanie Reynolds
William Reynolds
Billy Rogers
Dennis Rogers
Kenny Smith
Stephen Speers
Jerry Stamps
Marion Steely *already incarcerated*
Jimmy Taylor
Jared Turner
Marci Weedon
Michael Wilson
Tina Woods
At-Large
Christopher Allman
Brian Blay
Joshua Cranford
Oliver Graham
Tyler Grijalva
Patricia Hopkins
Patrick Kiplinger
Dalton Lanning
Christina Jones
James Morgan
Angela Rogers
Anna Steely
Ardith Taylor *dead*
Roy Taylor
Sandy Wheeler
Christina Williams
Danny Williams
Monte Woods
Howard Young