Monroe Co. Sheriff’s Dept. makes record-breaking meth bust after joint investigation with North Mississippi Narcotics & several local law enforcement agencies

ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI) – Tuesday, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department announced the details of an arrest in a major drug bust they say is the result of a joint investigation over the last few months.

“Methamphetamine is the go-to drug here that we have to deal with in Monroe County,” says Sheriff Kevin Crook. “It’s wrecked the most lives anyway.”

Putting an end to the area’s drug trafficking problem is just one of the reasons Sheriff Crook made sure the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department re-joined the North Mississippi Narcotics Unit.

He believes their most recent drug bust alone is proof of that.

On May 20th, Sheriff Crook says deputies pulled over 39-year-old Watavius Williams near his home for a traffic violation. When they searched the car, they found close to 20 pounds of meth. Sheriff Crook says it is the largest amount of narcotics they have ever recovered in a single drug bust in the county.

“20 pounds of methamphetamine can go a long way, will go a long way in our county and in other counties,” he said.

Sheriff Crook says Williams first came to the department’s attention after they seized a package addressed to his home that contained about 1 kilo of meth back in 2020.

He says they have been working on this investigation with at least nine other agencies, including the North Mississippi Narcotics Unit, Tupelo Police, the Lee County Sheriff’s Department, the Itawamba County Sheriff’s Department, Fulton Police, Amory Police, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Mississippi Highway Patrol and the Chickasaw County Sheriff’s Department.

“We were aware of the (drug) dealers in our county, other counties are aware of the dealers in their county,” Sheriff explained. “The problem is linking all those things together.”

Sheriff Cook and Chickasaw County Sheriff James Meyers say the information sharing and added resources of the joint operation are necessary when dealing with a drug ring of this size.

“We’re working with a very big drug organization,” Sheriff Meyers said. “They don’t stay in just one county or in one city, they travel a lot. And it just makes it a whole lot simpler when agencies can coordinate and work together.”

Authorities have seized eight guns, eight cars and made two other arrests in connection with the investigation.

“These guys, if they’re going to have drugs and are going to have that much money, they’re going to have weapons as well,” Sheriff Crook says. “That’s something we always got to think about and train for.”

Sheriff Crook says that while he knows this will be an ongoing battle, he hopes this meth bust can at least put a dent in the operation.

“It’s just a matter of time before we get the next one,” he said.

Williams is charged with Aggravated Trafficking of Methamphetamine. The two other arrests were John Blankenship in Chickasaw County and Francesca Gable in Tupelo. Blankenship is also charged with Aggravated Trafficking of Methamphetamine while Gable is charged with Trafficking Methamphetamine.

North Mississippi Narcotics expects more arrests to follow.