A total of eight people - seven men and one woman - were taken into custody during the execution of four search warrants on Friday night in Hannibal by the police department, working in cooperation with a handful of other law enforcement agencies.
The search warrants were executed almost simultaneously at 2209 Hope St., and 2113 and 2115 Gordon St. A few minutes later officers moved in at 1809 Grace St.
The suspects were taken into custody without incident at 2209 Hope St., 2113 Gordon St. and 1809 Grace St.
Apprehended at 2209 Hope St. was Ashley T. Shaw, 23, of Hannibal.
The six men arrested at 2113 Gordon are identified as: Anthony E. Williams, 41, of Hannibal; Tyrone L. Williams, 28, of Hannibal; Ronald L. Williams, 36, of Hannibal; Eric L. Dilworth, 26, of St. Louis; Harold Williams, 21, of Hannibal; and Marlo L. Robinson, 28, of Hannibal.
Taken into custody at 1809 Grace St. was Steven R. Williams, 36, of Hannibal.
With the exception of Robinson, who was released pending issuance of an arrest warrant for possession of a controlled substance (misdemeanor), the remainder of those taken into custody were being held on 24-hour holds pending issuance of arrest warrants on charges ranging from manufacturing and delivery of a controlled substance (felony), possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia (misdemeanor). Those held were transported to the Marion County Sheriff’s Department.
After searching all four residences and those taken into custody, officers located and seized a large quantity cocaine in powder form, “crack” cocaine, various forms of drug paraphernalia and cash. In addition a large quantity of marijuana was located. Some of the marijuana was in small baggies while the rest was found in brick form.
“Like most drug investigations this has been a long-term investigation which initially started with one search warrant, but has exponentially grown into four that we felt that we needed to act on and that’s what we did,” said HPD Chief Lyndell Davis on Friday night.
Joining the department’s Special Response Team were all the HPD’s detectives and the department’s entire command staff. Also involved were officers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Missouri State Water Patrol, deputies from the Marion County Sheriff’s Department and U.S. Drug Enforcement agents.
“There was quite a bit of critiquing and planning to the finest detail to make sure that everything went smoothly. I’m very proud of that,” said Davis. “Once again I think it was a very successful operation. I can’t say enough about how well my people did tonight as well as all the assisting agencies. It was a great team effort.”
Davis reported that no injuries were reported either to those taken into custody or police personnel during the operation.
Narcotic investigations and drug arrests are a priority of the public’s, according to Davis.
“When we did the (community) surveys in some of these areas there were a lot of complaints on drug activity and this is a direct result of that,” he said. “I hope this sends a message to those that want to be involved in narcotics sales.”
