A man described as a significant drug supplier to downtown area nightclubs is behind bars after Central Precinct undercover detectives tracked him to his motel room and seized one of the largest amounts of methamphetamine ever discovered by Metro Police.
Dennis Joseph Okeefe, 46, of Payne Springs Road in Dickson, who is also known as “Poppa” to his associates, is charged with seven felony drug offenses, including manufacturing and selling crystal methamphetamine. Seized during a search of Okeefe’s room at the Radisson Hotel on Airport Center Drive and his belongings were 961 grams of crystal meth, 203 Ecstasy pills, 177 meth pills, 64 ounces of liquid GHB, $3,800 cash, four laptop computers, and three diamond rings that detectives think may have been swapped for drugs.
The investigation began last June when a citizen at a community meeting reported to Sgt. David Rueff that a person was possibly selling drugs from a Church Street condominium. With little else to go on, the case stalled, but picked back up this month when a police department operative was able to purchase two grams of crystal meth at the Church Street condo. An additional one ounce of crystal meth was recovered during the execution of a search warrant. The condo owner agreed to cooperate and identified his source as a man named Dennis, who stayed in various hotels around town. On Friday, Dennis Okeefe sold one ounce of crystal meth to a police operative on Radisson Hotel property. He was subsequently arrested inside his room, but not before he managed to flush something down the toilet. Okeefe refused to be interviewed or cooperate with the drug investigation.
“This case is significant in the quantity and variety of drugs involved, as well as the fact that the investigation began from a citizen’s tip at a community meeting,” Chief Ronal Serpas said.
The meth seized by police has a street value of $460,000. The Ecstasy pills have a street value of $3,045. The liquid GHB is worth $8,820.
Okeefe is being held in lieu of $662,000 bail.
Dennis Joseph Okeefe
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