By By Adam Prestridge
A search warrant issued for an Atmore residence paid off Saturday for agents with the 21st Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force and local law enforcement agencies.
According to a release issued by the Task Force, agents along with officers with the Atmore Police Department and deputies with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at 163 Maxwell Street on Feb. 23 resulting in three arrests for numerous drug charges. Agents recovered more than four pounds of marijuana, a large amount of crack cocaine, drug paraphernalia such as scales and baggies and a handgun.
Atmore’s Demarcus LaQuintin Johnson, 18, was arrested and transported to the Escambia County Detention Center and charged with second-degree unlawful possession of marijuana.
Warrants have been issued for Willie Pete Johnson, 24, on charges of first-degree unlawful possession of marijuana, trafficking marijuana and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and Danette Mareese Jones, 48, on charges of unlawful possession of a controlled substance (crack cocaine). Both reside at 163 Maxwell Street in Atmore.
The 21st Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force is comprised of the following law enforcement agencies: Escambia County Sheriff’s Department, Atmore Police Department, East Brewton Police Department, Brewton Police Department, Flomaton Police Department, Escambia County District Attorney’s Office, Poarch Police Department and the Escambia County Commission.
The Task Force receives 50 percent of its funding from a grant funded by the Bureau of Justice Affairs Division of the United States Department of Justice and which is administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Department, Atmore Police Department, Brewton Police Department and the Escambia County District Attorney’s Office provide the remainder of the funding.