Aug 25, 3:47 AM (ET)

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) - Police sent to arrest a man at the request of his probation agent got the goods on him in a new drug case when they spotted a bag of marijuana in his dresser drawer, according to the criminal complaint against him.

The 27-year-old man was charged with possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia for a smoking device found in his bedroom, the complaint said.

Officers said the man greeted them at the door and asked if he could put on his pants before being taken away. The officers consented and followed him inside. They spotted the marijuana when he opened the drawer to get clothes.

A preliminary hearing was set for Wednesday.

93 Year-Old man Charged with Drug Dealing

Aug 24, 11:05 PM (ET)

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - A 93-year-old man was charged with cocaine-trafficking Thursday, the same day police netted three other people on charges of possessing heroine, opium and a slew of prescription drugs, police said Friday.

William C. Tinnen, also charged with possession of cocaine with intent to sell, was jailed before being released Friday on $200,000 bond, said Kammie Michael, spokeswoman for the Durham Police Department.

Tinnen also was sentenced for cocaine possession in 2001, and given a suspended sentence, Michael said.

71 Year-Old Woman Charged with Felony Manufacturing

Aug 23, 6:20 PM (ET)

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - A 71-year-old woman was arrested on drug charges after a chest-high marijuana plant was found in her yard, a plant she said was meant to keep animals away from her garden.

A sheriff's deputy saw the plant as he drove past Betty Holt Walker's home earlier this month, according to Capt. Tony Caliendo of the Guilford County Sheriff's Department. The deputy stopped to investigate and found five smaller plants behind a shed, as well as marijuana stems and seeds, and a water bong made from a soda bottle inside the house, Caliendo said.

Walker told the deputy she found the first plant - which had grown to more than 4 feet tall when he saw it - in her garden and repotted it. She said it was a special plant used to keep animals out of her front yard.

"This wasn't something that was meant to keep animals away," Caliendo said.

Walker is due in court Sept. 12 to face charges of manufacturing marijuana and felony possession of marijuana. A daughter who lives in the home was unaware the plants were in the yard and was not charged, Caliendo said.

Boy REALLY Hates Snakes

Aug 23, 4:44 PM (ET)

CINCINNATI (AP) - A man who shows snakes and other reptiles at schools, festivals and libraries says a boy who told the man he hated snakes stomped and killed the man's 10-foot-long python. Scott Braunstein said he was showing Popcorn, a nonpoisonous albino Burmese python, Sunday at the St. Bernadette Festival near Cincinnati.

"The next thing I know ... the kid raises his leg and stomps down on the snake's head," Braunstein said. "The snake started convulsing."

Braunstein said he saw a man grab the child and say, "This is why I don't take you anywhere," before disappearing.

"I've never, never, had anything like that happen," said Braunstein, who operates House of Reptiles, based in Dry Ridge, Ky.

Braunstein's collection includes alligators, lizards, spiders and frogs. For two years, Braunstein's animals have been featured in a petting zoo at the festival.

"Scott's business is to educate people about reptiles, and his goal is for people to learn to appreciate rather than fear the reptiles that share this planet with us," said Dan Meakin, who founded All Creatures Animal Hospital in Amelia, Ohio.

Law Enforcement: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/499/police_drug_corruption

More prison guards are in trouble. A Louisiana cop gets busted for pills -- corruption or desperation? Let's get to it:

In Tallahassee, Florida, a Florida Department of Corrections officer was arrested last Friday on drug and other charges. Officer Terrance Ruffen, 31, faces charges of tampering with evidence and possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana. He was arrested after Gadsden County sheriff's deputies raided a home in Quincy in an investigation of crack cocaine sales there.

In Shreveport, Louisiana, a Shreveport police officer was arrested Tuesday on drug charges. Sgt. Thomas Morgan, a supervisor in the Uniformed Services Division, faces four counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Morgan, 39, went down after Shreveport narcotics officers received a complaint a week ago that he was illegally obtaining prescription medications. He is on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation. (Is this corruption, or desperation? Hard to tell without more facts.)

In Elkhart, Indiana, an Elkhart County corrections officer was arrested Monday for taking home drugs seized from a prisoner after a visit. Mario Randle, 35, allegedly searched the inmate after a visit, finding a modified screwdriver containing at least two illegal drugs. Police said Randle did not report the incident, but instead took the items with him when his shift ended. He faces felony counts of drug trafficking and official misconduct and is looking at up to three years in prison. He has been fired.

DUH!

NEW YORK (AP) - So much for the meatball defense. A veteran counterterrorism detective's claims that he flunked a drug test because his wife served him marijuana-spiked meatballs "simply weren't credible," and he has been fired by the New York Police Department, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Thursday.

With the dismissal, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly rejected an earlier recommendation by an administrative judge that the detective, Anthony Chiofalo, be reinstated. Kelly has final say on firings.

An attorney for Chiofalo did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment.

Chiofalo, a 22-year-veteran assigned to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, was suspended without pay in 2005 after a random drug test found marijuana in his system. The officer denied ever using drugs and demanded a hearing.

During an investigation, his wife said she had secretly substituted marijuana for oregano in her meatball recipe in hopes of forcing him to leave police work.

The detective's lawyers presented evidence that she had passed a lie-detector test, and offered testimony from a toxicologist that the excuse was valid.