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Show Sevier, Sanpete Officers Nab Four In Southern Utah Drug Traffic Raid i Two of (our Gunnison resident alleged to be Involved In what it believed to be a southern Utah-wide drug distribution system, are being held In Sanpete County Jail, Manti, on charges stemming from illegal possession and sale of controlled substances following a raid on two houses early Tuesday morning. Richard Evans, 25, is charged with possession and cultivation of a controlled substance and is being held in lieu of $10,000 bond set Tuesday afternoon by South Sanpete Precinct Justice of the Peace Paul Thompson. A $1,000 bail was also set on Evans for illegal possession of a game animal. Bradley W. Maughn, 21, is charged with distributing and cultivating a controlled substance. He is being held in lieu of $15,000 bond. Wives of the two, Kathy Evans, 24, and Diane Maughn, 21, were both charged with cultivating a controlled sub- L nee. They were released on their own recognizance. Preliminary hearing on the four had not been set Wednesday. The arrests were made by officers from Sanpete ami Sevier counties after some 200 hours of surveillance and undercover work which included the purchase of drugs from one of the suspects by an undercover agent. Richfield Police Chief Boyd Ward, one of the officers in- volved In the raid, said their work has Indicated much of the drug traffic In Gunnison, Aurora, Saltna and Richfield, has come from those persons arrested in Tuesday's raid. Also Involved in the raid, which was headed by Gunnison Police Chief Joel Christensen, were Sevier County sheriff's deputies Jerry Nice and Duane Ross; Sanpete County sheriffs deputies Kennard Anderson and Robert Rasmussen and Cen-terfield Town Marshal Kelly Lether. Armed with "no-knock" search warrants as well as warrants for the arrests of the four, two teams of officers broke Into the two houses simultaneously around 8:10 a.m. Officers met only verbal resistance as they took the four into custody, handcuffed them, and proceeded to search the houses for drugs and related items. Officers were unable to obtain anything except three marijuana plants at the Maughn home. It is believed drugs in the house were flushed down a toilet seconds after officers broke into the house. However, a variety of Items were found at the Evans house, including several growing marijuana plants, paraphanalia and chemicals used to mix with drugs to produce other forms of dope. In addition, two deer were discovered hanging in the basement of the Evans house. A charge is being brought against Evans for illegal possession of a game animal by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. In addition to the officers of the two counties, an undercover agent, working in the area, was in on the raid. "All evidence shows residents of several area communities were buying drugs directly from some of these people," Ward said. He stated that serial numbers on money at the Evans house are being checked against numbers used by undercover agents to make drug purchases. The Investigation has covered activities in Gunnison, Salina, Fillmore, St. George, Cedar City and Salt Lake City. "This is just a splinter of the drug activity in this area," Ward said. "There will be many more arrests forthcoming throughout the region." The chief stated there are two warrants for arrest on drug possession and one search warrant already issued for the Richfield area and arrests are expected soon. "This includes sales of drugs to our undercover agents, giving us practically an air-tight case," he said. The Tuesday incident followed the recent arrest of a drug user in Richfield, who made a deal with officers to introduce the undercover officer to his drug supplier. After purchases there, as well as attending parties and other purchases in the area, sufficient evidence was gathered to make the arrests. |