Big drug bust executed near Clinton school

A huge drug bust was conducted by lawmen from assorted agencies last Wednesday, March 13, in Clinton. It climaxed with an undercover buy at a house which court documents say was only 650 feet from the Nance Elementary School playground.
Four people were arrested, including a Clinton man who had been sentenced to 65 years in prison on other drug charges over the past 13 years. That ex-convict/suspect is Michael Dean Ford, 39.
Latest court documents filed in the case indicate the house was located at 330 S. 14th St. Earlier documents had given a different address, also in the 300 block of S. 14th, and one had given an address in the 300 block of N. 14th but that was believed to be a typographical error.
The charges accuse Ford and a woman with whom he was living, Venessa (or Vanessa) Hinojosa, 29, of trafficking 97 grams of methamphetamine. But an affidavit of probable cause says an agent with the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control had actually purchased 501 grams of meth from an Oklahoma City woman at the house on 14th Street. Sheriff Kenneth Tidwell said the 97 grams would equate to 3.42 ounces and the 500 grams to 17.63 ounces, or well over a pound. Either one would be a huge quantity of illicit drugs.
In fact, the affidavit said $5,400 was recovered from the Oklahoma City woman and most of it had serial numbers that matched “buy” money the OBN agent had used in making his purchase.
Besides Ford and Hinojosa, those arrested were Maria Isabel Flores, 22, and Lorenzo Uribe, 24, both of Oklahoma City.
In addition to the OBNDD, law enforcement agencies involved in the planning and/or arrests were the District 2 Drug Task Force of Elk City, the Custer County Sheriff’s Office, the Clinton Police Department, and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
An affidavit written by an OBN agent indicates the case started breaking about 10 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13, when a search warrant was executed at 330 S. 14th St. Ford and Ms. Hinojosa were both located in the hallway and a juvenile male in the living room. Another adult male fled to the basement; he was apprehended but was not named in any of the charges.
Many items of evidence were seized, said the affidavit, including approximately 97 grams of meth from a black safe.
Another affidavit – this one filed with the charge against Ms. Flores, the Oklahoma City woman – says that sometime that day the OBN agent had placed an order for 18 ounces of meth with Ms. Hinojosa and was told it would cost $5,200. The agent agreed to the price and both he and Hinojosa agreed they would meet at 4 p.m. but the exchange wouldn’t take place until 8:30 or 9 that night.
The affidavit said the agent eventually drove to 330 S. 14th and parked in front of the house, and Hinojosa came out and accepted $5,200 for the buy. Finally, the delivery vehicle arrived, and Maria Flores allegedly got out, went inside the house, then came out and the vehicle left.
A surveillance team followed it. Meanwhile, the OBN agent went inside and met with Ms. Hinojosa who allegedly had a large plastic bag of suspected meth.
The delivery vehicle was stopped a short distance away, and a drug-sniffing dog did a search of it. The affidavit said there was $5,400 in Flores’ possessions with serial numbers matching the buy money. Uribe apparently was in the vehicle too but told investigators he didn’t know why they had come to Clinton. Later, said the affidavit, he changed his story and admitted it was to accept money for delivering a shopping bag.
Both Flores and Uribe were arrested and taken to the Custer County Jail.
“It should be noted that the field weight of the methamphetamine that (the undercover agent) purchased was approximately 501 grams,” the affidavit stated.