Thousands Of Dollars Worth Of Drugs Off The Street, Huntsville Club Closes

Posted: July 23, 2010 09:11 PM CDT



Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of drugs are off the street and one Huntsville club has been shut down. More than 5 pounds of ice were found in Madison and Morgan counties. Investigators say ice is one of the purest forms of meth and it's only made in Mexico.

Princess Pettigrew grew up in Huntsville she lives just down the road from Pokar De Ases, a club that has been shut down, after investigators discovered drugs were being sold there.

"It's shocking and it makes me feel unsafe in my neighborhood. I have a child and to know that this is going on who knows who they're selling it to or what age group and it makes me feel unsafe," said Pettigrew.

Illegal immigrants 28 year old Vanessa G. Mendoza-Pineda and 31 year old Noe L. Moreno have been arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine and meth.

"The Noe Mareno is one of four owners of that business and he has been dealing cocaine and ice directly out of that business from behind the counter," said Sgt. Dewayne McCarver with the Madison-Morgan County STAC Team.

STAC investigators searched their homes in Decatur and Poker De Ases and found a half pound of cocaine and more than 5 lbs of ice a high grade meth made in Mexico. The ice has a street value of more than $20,000 a pound and is rare to find in bulk. A Mexican drug saint shrine was also seized.

"They actually worship to those shrines in an effort to ward off law enforcement as you've seen on TV they're not afraid to use violence against police officers and from the guns they're prepared to do that," said Sgt. McCarver.

Investigators say more arrests within this drug trafficking network could be made. Pettigrew is pleased to have some of the drugs out of her neighborhood and hopes the hard work continues.

"I just hope they clean it up. I don't want to raise my kids in an environment where drugs are so easily accessible. I just hope they come through and they come through and they clean it up clean up the neighborhood," said Pettigrew.

Investigators say with this amount of drug trafficking protection is often used in the form of gangs. Immigration and customs enforcement will handle deportations at the end of the criminal case.

Reporter: Stephanie Beecken – sbeecken@waaytv.com

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