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| Mark Bogart |
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| Stolen Handguns |
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| Stolen Rifles |
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| Crystal Meth and Money |
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| More Money and Meth |
Thousands of dollars,
explosives, stolen property, over a half pound of crystal meth, and more than
40 guns were seized during a large scale investigation involving two search
warrants this month. According to a press release from the Vernon County
Sheriff’s Office, approximately 255 grams of what is believed to be crystal
meth was seized during one of the search warrants making this one of the
largest seizures of crystal meth in Vernon County.
According to Vernon County
Sheriff Jason Mosher, his office began investigating a drug operation along
with agents from the CNET Drug Task Force that lead to tips of stolen firearms
and other stolen property. With information collected, the Sheriff’s Office
applied for a search warrant in the south part of the county just off of 43
highway that lead to the recovery of stolen firearms, drugs and high grade
explosives. Continuing the investigation, the Sheriff’s Office was able to
obtain a second search warrant that lead to more stolen firearms and other
property, as well as the crystal meth and more than $8,000 in cash. Sheriff
Mosher said the type of explosives found were of a commercial grade and his
office was able to secure the explosives and turn them over to the Missouri
State Highway patrol bomb squad. “Members of our office had just received
training this summer on identifying certain types of explosives and was able to
quickly determine how to safely remove them from the building and turn them
over to the Highway Patrol” said Mosher.
According to the press
release, at least a half dozen of the fire arms had already been identified as
stolen from Vernon County, and St. Clair County, and investigators are still
working to identify the others, “many of the reports we take of stolen firearms
do not have serial numbers for the guns when reported so it takes time to track
them down, but we are working with the ATF to try and identify when they were
sold and then start tracking them down from there” said Mosher.
Names from the first search
warrant have not been released due to the continuing investigation, but a
warrant was issued for Mark Bogart 33, of Nevada, involving the second search
warrant charging him with a class A Felony for drug trafficking, a class C
Felony for receiving stolen property, and a class C Felony for maintain a
public nuisance. Bogart is currently being held in the Vernon County Jail on a
$100,000 cash only bond.
Sheriff Mosher said the
amount of drugs taken off the streets will make a large impact on the drug
sales in Vernon County, “this was a tremendous amount of crystal meth to have
in a county this size and will definitely make a dent in the amount of meth
being distributed throughout our county” Mosher said. The Sheriff also said
returning stolen property to its owners is one of the most gratifying parts of
the job.
