Published: June 25, 2009 02:34 pm      

Drug cache seized in raid

Search results in five arrests on numerous charges.

Kokomo police seized a cache of drugs, guns and cash and arrested five people Tuesday evening in the search of a house on South Leeds Street.

Officers of the street crimes unit executed a search warrant about 8:30 p.m. on the home at 1030 S. Leeds St., with the assistance of afternoon patrol officers. Officers obtained the warrant after a two-week investigation into suspected drug activity, said Sgt. Jeff McKay.

Officers forced entry to the residence and allegedly seized more than 10 grams of heroin, 4 grams of crack cocaine, 3 grams of powder cocaine, 94 ecstasy pills, 121 OxyContin pills and 37 grams of marijuana. Officers also allegedly found a shotgun, a handgun, two rifles and nearly $3,000 cash inside the home, McKay said.

McKay said the heroin seizure was the largest he has seen in his 14 years on the force.

Relatively absent in the Kokomo area in recent years, heroin is slowly creeping back into the area.

“It’s making its way back here,” McKay said of heroin trafficking.

The raid was a result of an anonymous complaints about the house. During the raid, McKay said several people were allegedly using cocaine in a bedroom where a 4-year-old was staying.

Resident Damione Foster, 37, Detroit, faces the most severe charges of felony possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, dealing in narcotics, possession of narcotics, possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana.

Foster has prior convictions for robbery and burglary in Kansas, Ohio and Michigan, McKay added.

One other resident, Jasmine McCoy, 24, was charged with maintaining a common nuisance, possession and dealing in a controlled substance.

Three others, Jerrit Johnson, 25, Ann Arbor, Mich., Nicole Streza, 24, Kokomo, and Blake Cannady, 24, Kokomo, were also arrested in the raid. Johnson faces charges of possession of cocaine, dealing in cocaine and visiting a common nuisance, while Streza faces possession of marijuana and visiting a common nuisance charges. Cannady faces charges of possession of a syringe and visiting a common nuisance.

The street crimes unit was assisted by the Kokomo Police Drug Task Force.

• Mike Fletcher is the Kokomo Tribune crime reporter. He can be reached at (765) 454-8577 or mike.fletcher@kokomotribune.com.