Vernon bust disrupts illegal drug use across parish
Published 1:15 am Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Pamela Sleezer
Vernon Parish narcotics agents celebrated a significant bust over the weekend that authorities said has disrupted drug sales and drug use across the parish.
According to Sheriff Sam Craft, agents with the Vernon Parish Narcotics Task Force executed a search warrant on Friday at a residence on Lawrence Street in Leesville that had become known as the “Hole.” Craft said the sheriff’s office had received numerous complaints about the residence.
Craft said the search was the result of “an extensive covert investigation” into the distribution of illegal narcotics across the parish that found the owners/operators of the “Hole” responsible for facilitating drug use and abuse “throughout every small community within Vernon Parish.”
During the covert investigation, Craft said NTF agents identified the residence as a “trap house,” which he said referred to the residence’s use for the specific purpose of distributing illegal narcotics.
Upon executing the search warrant, agents recovered pounds of cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana. Agents also located firearms, including three handguns that had been reported stolen from the Leesville and Alexandria areas. In addition, agents found ammunition in plastic bags that Sheriff Craft said leads investigators to believe the bags were being sold from the residence.
While executing the search warrant, agents encountered 32 year-old Dameciao Hollis, of Texas, at the residence. Hollis was detained without incident and later charged with one count of Possession of Cocaine and one count of Possession of Marijuana. He was booked into the Vernon Parish Jail with bond set at $11,561.
Sheriff Craft commended the Vernon Parish NTF agents for their diligence in the investigation, and pledged to continue the fight against illegal narcotics in the parish.
“The distribution and use of illegal narcotics are not victimless crimes. Families and friends of those who abuse narcotics can attest to the devastation these drugs have on their lives,” Craft stated.
Vernon Parish Narcotics Task Force agents recovered pounds of cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana, firearms — including three handguns that had been reported stolen from the Leesville and Alexandria areas— and ammunition in plastic bags.
