LAPLACE — The days of undercover cops going door-to-door to suspected dealers’ homes buying drugs are largely over, Sheriff Mike Tregre said, adding more detailed investigating and surveilling has taken root as deputies target larger networks and dealers.

“The drug dealers out here tell somebody trying to purchase drugs, whether it’s a police officer or not, to ‘meet me in the back of the building,’” Tregre said. “Nothing good is going to come there. It’s either going to be a robbery or a shooting. It goes downhill very, very quick. These guys have adapted to how we operated for many years. If we don’t change, we won’t be successful.”

In response, the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Office has turned much of its effort combatting the ever present drug trade over to its Special Operation Division.

Functioning much like a traditional SWAT outfit, the Division also handles drug investigations through a network of uniformed and non-uniformed officers.

The officers use community tips, information from confidential informants and details uncovered through warrant executions to build cases of probable cause within the drug dealing community.

Tregre credited the Division’s work Monday, which included the arrest of Reserve parents, accused of using their own children to mask an extensive narcotics dealing scheme.

Police said 41-year-old Roosevelt Preston Jr. and 27-year-old Angel Pierre packaged an assortment of ecstasy, Oxycodone, Adderall, marijuana, crack-cocaine and heroin and concealed them within a diaper bag hidden among small children’s diapers and other child care items.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, Special Operation Division officers conducting “pro-active patrols” Monday afternoon observed a Nissan Juke blow through a stop sign at the intersection of Cardinal and Milton streets in LaPlace.

The resulting traffic stop led police to identify Preston and Pierre in the vehicle, as well as three children, — ages 10 and 2 years, and 9 months.

Police said the older kids are the suspects’ children and the baby belonged to a friend of Pierre’s.

Following the arrests of Preston and Pierre, police released the baby back to her mother and turned over custody of the 2- and 10-year-old to a relative of Pierre.

In all, police said they confiscated 182 dosage units of ecstasy, 23 dosage units of oxycodone, 45 dosage units of Adderall, 10 grams of marijuana, a gram of crack-cocaine, a gram of heroin and a digital scale.

“It’s a perfect camouflage or disguise to have children in the car and have narcotics like this,” Tregre said. “It’s sad, but we are not surprised. People use children as cover.”

Tregre said when Preston was brought to jail, deputies observed him squirming around in the backseat.

“Apparently, he took some of the drugs out of his personal body and stuck it in the backseat of the police car,” Tregre said.

Preston is charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, three counts of illegal use of controlled drug in the presence of persons under 17 years old, possession with intent to distribute MDMA (felony), possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine (felony), possession with intent to distribute Adderall (felony), possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession or distribution of drug paraphernalia 1st offense (misdemeanor).

He is being held in custody in lieu of a $156,500 bond.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, Preston has been arrested on illegal drug and battery charges more than 20 times since 1995.

Pierre was booked with possession with intent to distribute MDMA (felony), possession with intent to distribute oxycodone, possession or distribution of drug paraphernalia 1st offense (misdemeanor), possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute Adderall (felony) and illegal use of controlled drug in presence of persons under 17 years old (misdemeanor).

She is being held in custody in lieu of a $106,500 bond.

War on drugs

“It’s not a secret and I hate it, but the drug problem is out there,” Tregre said, adding police “win some, lose some” when it comes to individual cases in the nonstop effort to fight illegal drugs in St. John Parish. “Will there ever ultimately be a winner? I doubt it. The drugs are just too much.”

Despite the challenge, Tregre said local officers are doing their part thanks in large part to cooperation from residents.

He credited the Special Operation Division for making more than 100 arrests a month.

Despite what he said are tangible results, Tregre acknowledges many in the public want to see faster action.

“I know you expect to see immediate results, where we just go out there and grab everybody,” Tregre said. “You can’t operate like that anymore. You have to have supportive evidence. We do surveillance. We watch, we look, we study. We need to know what (drug dealers are) doing, how they operate, who’s all involved. Instead of catching one guy with a little bag of marijuana, we try to take out the entire network or system.”

He asks residents to keep tips coming, either by phone call, text message or Facebook inbox.

“It’s not unusual to catch somebody with $5,000 cash on them,” Tregre said. “He will just bond out in a little bit, so we’re working smarter. Patience pays off. When we do make an arrest, we have what I think is a conviction. That is what these guys are trained to do, give the district attorney’s office solid cases.”