4 held in three meth busts

Since Thursday, the Jackson County Drug Task Force has detained four men in three separate methamphetamine busts.
According to the task force, a Grand Ridge man and a Marianna man were arrested Friday. Two other men were arrested in a rolling meth lab bust Thursday.
On Friday afternoon, on Highway 60 and Interstate 10, investigators with the task force made contact with Darvin Albert Dudley of Grand Ridge. Dudley was found to be in possession of a duffle bag containing acid, ammonia nitrate, Coleman camp fuel and other items used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, the task force reported.
A narcotics detection canine then alerted to the odor of narcotics within the vehicle. Investigators discovered items used to ingest methamphetamine, the task force reported.
According to the task force, Dudley, 39, was charged with attempting to manufacture methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was booked into the Jackson County Correctional Facility.
Also on Friday afternoon, the task force arrested Titus Ray Bontrager, 46, of Marianna. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), possession of drug paraphernalia, and tampering with evidence.
According to the task force, a traffic stop was conducted at the Sunoco gas station on Highway 71 South, where a narcotics canine alerted to the vehicle Bontrager was driving.
Inside the vehicle, task force investigators located items used to ingest methamphetamine. Investigators also located a plastic bag containing methamphetamine inside Bontrager’s pants pocket, the task force reported. According to the task force, Bontrager resisted officers and attempted to destroy the evidence as office attempted to remove the plastic bag.
Bontrager was arrested and booked into the Jackson County Correctional Facility.
Authorities have released more information about the traffic stop that resulted in a meth bust Thursday. Tents, trailers and investigators covered a parking lot at the intersection of Highway 90 and Hall Street in Marianna Thursday, as the Jackson County Drug Task Force dismantled a rolling meth lab.
Authorities have released more information about the traffic stop that resulted in a drug bust.
According to a press release from the task force, the driver of the vehicle, Joshua Nelson, 32, of DeFuniak Springs, and the passenger, JaJuan Griggs, 40, of Ponce De Leon, were both placed under arrest for possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana, possession of methamphetamine, possession of listed chemicals, possession of drug paraphernalia and attempting to manufacture methamphetamine.
The task force reported that after a routine traffic stop, a narcotics detection canine was deployed for an open-air sniff of the vehicle. The canine alerted to the odor of narcotics. A search of the vehicle was then conducted, the task force reported.
During a search, officials found a large duffle bag containing an abundance of materials and ingredients used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, including iodine crystals, acid, a hot plate, funnels and Pyrex dishes that contained residue of red phosphorus, according to the task force.
Other items located in the vehicle included another large bottle of acid, pseudoephedrine cold tablets that had been removed from the packaging, two medicine bottles full of red phosphorus, and two medicine bottles full of iodine crystals, the task force reported.
Additionally, marijuana, methamphetamine and several hypodermic needles were located in the vehicle and on Nelson, the task force said.
Both Nelson and Griggs were housed in the Jackson County Correctional Facility to await first appearance on their charges.
The Jackson County Drug Task Force is a combined effort of the Cottondale, Graceville and Marianna police departments, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.