By By Marianne Todd/The Meridian Star
Feb. 23, 2001
Authorities say a joint investigation between four law enforcement agencies has netted 49 charges among eight suspects accused of hunting violations.
The charges stem from poaching to spotlighting, an illegal form of night hunting, said Lauderdale County Maj. Ward Calhoun.
The arrests are the culmination of a three-month investigation between the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the FBI.
Calhoun said to catch the suspects, agents from the state Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks went undercover and infiltrated a group of people suspected of poaching and night hunting.
The initiative, called Operation Impact, also netted one felony drug arrest, Calhoun said.
Most of the suspects, who were being interviewed at the Lauderdale County Detention Facility late Thursday, are charged with multiple hunting offenses, he said. The names of those arrested will be provided as early as tomorrow, once all the suspects have been formally served warrants and booked into the jail, Calhoun said.
More arrests and additional charges are probable in connection with the arrests.
Marianne Todd is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at mtodd@themeridianstar.com.