Just hours before Nashville’s Night Out Against Crime celebrations and events, Mayor Bill Purcell and Chief Ronal Serpas congratulated the officers assigned to the East Precinct’s Flex Team for this morning’s 500 pound marijuana seizure and the arrest of one of the city’s larger marijuana distributors.
“For our police officers, every night is a night out against crime,” Mayor Purcell said. “The men and women on duty protecting us while most of Nashville sleeps perform an incredible public service. The 500 pound marijuana seizure is just one example of what they do.”
Information gleaned from a traffic stop last Thursday night outside RiverChase apartments in East Nashville led to today’s marijuana seizure. Flex Officer Marty Reed and Officer in Training Jason Wong stopped a car for running the stop sign at North 2nd and Meridian Streets. The driver, whose name is not being released, had information about neighborhood drug activity which ultimately led to this morning’s arrest of Joseph Edward Fugh, 28, and the recovery of 500 pounds of marijuana from his apartment at the Mission Brentwood complex on Enclave Circle. The marijuana has a wholesale value of at least $400,000.
Late last night, Fugh, who had been identified as a potential drug suspect, was spotted inside an Infiniti sedan in the parking lot of a strip shopping center near the intersection of Old Hickory Boulevard and Nolensville Pike. Flex officers approached the car to talk to Fugh and, while there, saw a plastic bag of marijuana in plain view. Fugh subsequently admitted to the officers that there was a large quantity of marijuana in his nearby apartment. A search warrant was then obtained. Multiple bundles of marijuana were found in various rooms of Fugh’s apartment. Detectives believe that Fugh received shipments of marijuana from Mexico and would then sell it in pound quantities to Nashville area drug dealers.
“The outstanding work of Officer Reed and the East Precinct Flex team has taken a significant marijuana distributor off the streets and greatly enhanced the safety of the persons who live at his apartment complex,” Chief Ronal Serpas said. “Drug activity and distribution breed violence. Thankfully, no one was hurt in this instance.”
Fugh is being held in the Metro Jail in lieu of $350,000 bond.
Chief Serpas said this morning’s marijuana seizure is indicative of the incredible increases in neighborhood-based drug enforcement during 2007. Through July, precinct-initiated drug/vice investigations have resulted in the arrests of 2,976 persons (a 23% increase over the first half of 2006); the seizure of $563,763 cash (a 153% increase over the first half of 2006); the recovery of 254 guns (a 37% increase over the first half of 2006); the seizure of 39 pounds of cocaine (a 51% increase over the first half of 2006); and the seizure of 1,149 pounds of marijuana (a 57% increase over the first half of 2006).
“The men and women of the police department are working smarter and harder than ever before,” Chief Serpas said. “Our officers are extremely talented and dedicated individuals. I am very proud of them, and I am grateful to all of the neighborhood organizations in our city for partnering with us to make Nashville a safer place.”
Joseph Edward Fugh
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