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Local News
Drug bust discussed at M.C. Council
January 13, 2009 at 12:14 pm
By RYAN HORNS
County law enforcement officials have a warning for anyone traveling with drugs through Milford Center.
At the Monday night village council meeting, Union County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Warden said last week deputies arrested a driver passing through the village on Route 4. He was ultimately caught transporting about five pounds of marijuana.
Warden said the man arrested was not from Milford Center, but the incident is a sign of the times. He said it is also a sign of how tough deputies are getting on drugs, and how the K-9 drug sniffing units are going to be out in full force.
“Milford Center is going to be feeling it, just like the rest of the county,” he said.
Warden said Route 4 cuts right through the village and is considered a thoroughfare for those heading east. It will bring incidents such as this again.
Village attorney John Eufinger also offered some new insight into what rights police have during traffic stops.
Legally, he said, K-9 officers are allowed to conduct drug sniffs on any car they stop without a search warrant.
“The dog’s olfactory senses (allow this),” he said. “The dog is free to walk around the car.”
Warden added that deputies often explain to drivers that if there is any hint of marijuana or other drugs inside the vehicle, the dog is trained to do an “active alert.”
“So before we take the dog around, we explain that if he sniffs it, it will claw at the door,” he said.
Warden said drivers will often confess to having the drug, in lieu of the dog possibly scratching up their “new Mustang.”
“These dogs have amazing abilities in what they can sniff out,” Eufinger said.
He said on Jan. 6 the Marysville Municipal Court was full of people charged with drug and drug paraphernalia possession.
“They take it very seriously,” Eufinger said about the police crackdown on drugs. “They are enthusiastically and strictly enforcing the marijuana laws.”
He also explained that many college students don’t realize that most grant or scholarship programs will pull their funding if a student is arrested for drug possession.
“It is pretty harsh how it is applied,” Eufinger said. “It’s serious.”
Warden said the dogs can detect five or six different drug odors, from marijuana to cocaine.
He said the dog will “hit pretty hard” on the smallest traces of crumbled marijuana leaves, powder ground into the carpet of the car, or even the residual odor of drugs leftover on a person’s coat from the night before.
Eufinger said possession of less than a 100 grams of marijuana results in a minor misdemeanor offense, a $150 fine and a six-month driver’s license suspension. Possession of drug paraphernalia carries the stronger enforcement of a fourth-degree misdemeanor, 30 days in jail or a $250 fine and the six-moth driver’s license suspension.
Council again discussed a zoning issue regarding several homes located off Center and Short streets. Due to a zoning oversight, portions of these homeowners’ land are still owned by the village. The reason is because a cul-de-sac was planned for the area, but never constructed.
During the December council meeting, a resident said in some cases people legally may not have ownership over certain sections of their homes that fall with the cul-de-sac zoning areas.
Eufinger said he plans to take care of the issue by writing up easements for the homeowners. He will have drafts created in time for the February meeting.
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