DARLINGTON — Lafayette County law enforcement has been working some major drug cases in recent months, including one case of “dealing” in which the alleged offender was hit with cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana, and other felonies.

The cases are not necessarily connected, according to Det. Sgt. Jerrett Cook of the sheriff’s office, but in tight-knit, rural communities there usually are some common threads; or even suspects and regular users.

“Most of the cases seem to attach to another and we’re better able to piece things together,” Cook said.

Alonzo Andre Criss, 41, of Belmont, is charged with eight drug-related felonies, including manufacturing/deliver of cocaine, manufacture, and delivery of amphetamine, possess drug paraphernalia to manufacture, compound, convert, produce, or store methamphetamine; and possession of (other) narcotic drugs. 

He also was charged with the maintaining a drug trafficking place and three counts of misdemeanor neglect of a child. Bond was set at $7,500 on April 24, and he was scheduled to appear in court again on July 14 before Circuit Judge Jenna Gill.

In another case, 46-year-old James Jesse Cubit, of Platteville, was charged with possession with intent to deliver amphetamine, possess of drug paraphernalia to manufacture, compound, convert, produce, or store methamphetamine; felony maintaining a drug trafficking house; and felony possession of THC. He also was charged with misdemeanor obstructing/resisting arrest.

Cubit’s bond was set at $2,500 on April 4 and he also is scheduled to appear before Gill on July 14, according to court records.

Despite some good news nationally, the arrests here are a continuation of a trend of drug use nationwide that peaked during the recent opioid epidemic. And while the number of deaths from fentanyl may have ebbed in some areas, in rural areas cops are seeing no shortage of opiates of all types on the streets.

One reason for the dip in opiate statistics is the advent and wide-availability of the naloxone (Narcan), an opiate-overdose reversal class of drugs, according to the Lafayette detective sergeant. That has led some to speculate that actual near-death overdoses may be under-counted — though all agree a life is thankfully saved at that moment by the fast-acting drugs that are usually administered through a mist in the nose of the victim.

“If you arrest someone with a drug, they (often) have Narcan on them,” said Cook. “We still have an epidemic.”

What’s more, methamphetamine arrests overall are still prevalent in rural areas, said the detective.

He said leads for drug arrests have been helped some by technology in recent years, but curbing sales of hard drugs still requires foot work, and follow up. Having recently had access to a dedicated agent to focus on local drug cases also has helped with more arrests being logged in the county, he added, along with “good busts, (and) some tips on the road.”