Sheriff, Morton chief launch drug interdiction unit
Citing concerns over drugs entering the city limits, the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office and the Morton Police Department are creating an interdiction unit to target traffickers.
Hinds County will devote two deputies to the unit, which will focus on the Interstate 20 corridor, Sheriff Victor Mason said.
“It’s part of my promise to work with other agencies since we are the largest county in the state,” he said. “I’m reaching out to everyone. Drugs are the biggest problem that we have, and we don’t want to just catch it when it comes here. We want to prevent it from coming here.”
Chief Nicky Crapps of Morton PD said drug activity involving methamphetamines and marijuana is on the rise, leading to an increase in drug-related crimes, such as home burglaries.
“Anytime you see an increase in your burglaries in your town, you can relate just about 90 percent back to some type of drug use,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to do is cut it all down — the burglaries, the drug use — and keep our little town as safe as we can.”
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Mason, however, said his deputies have not seen an increase in drug seizures.
“It’s kind of the same, … but who’s to say it’s not coming through here?” he said.
The number of meth and marijuana seizures and data on burglaries in Morton was not provided to The Clarion-Ledger.
During a meeting earlier in the week, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors approved the agencies’ agreement, which is expected to last a year, said Claire Barker, attorney for the sheriff’s department.
Under the agreement, the sheriff’s department and Morton PD will split cash and property that the unit seizes during its operations, Mason said.
Mason said his office has reached out to law enforcement in the surrounding area, including Clinton, Pearl and Vicksburg, over starting a “group effort” to target drugs. The Hinds County Sheriff’s Office and Jackson Police Department also created a joint unit to reduce crime last month.
Contact Mollie Bryant at mbryant2@gannett.com or 601-961-7251. Follow her on Twitter.