New information available for Pablo drug bust
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PABLO —Details regarding 50-year-old Pablo resident Cindy Umphrey’s arrest following a drug raid in Pablo are slowly emerging.
Officers from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Montana Highway Patrol and Tribal Law and Order carried out the raid in the early morning hours of June 1 in Pablo. According to a press release from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, officers found money, firearms, nearly a pound of methamphetamine and “a variety of other drugs.”
Law enforcement initially reported that the firearms were stolen. According to Tribal Law and Order Captain Louis Fiddler, all firearms found at the residence were checked against the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and came back negative, meaning they were not stolen.
“There’s a lot I can’t talk about because (Umphrey) is still freshly incarcerated and the investigation is ongoing,” Fiddler said. “Like most drug busts, there may be additional arrests stemming from this, so there’s just a lot I can’t say.”
While the Sheriff’s Office’s press release said nearly a pound of methamphetamine had been seized in the raid, Fiddler could not comment on the exact amount. However, he did say meth is usually sold in the area in quarter and half-gram to full-gram amounts — and it isn’t cheap.
“A quarter gram can go anywhere from $35 to $50, and a full gram can sell for $130 to $160,” he said.
This means if the meth was broken down and sold in quarter grams for $50 per gram, the approximate street value of a pound of methamphetamine is about $90,800.
Fiddler could not comment on the length of the investigation leading up to the raid. There were no signs of drug lab activity at the residence, but Fiddler said officers did find “a significant amount” of other drugs during the raid.
“(The other drugs) have not been processed by the state crime lab, but what we did see was a significant amount of suspected prescription medication and suspected heroin,” Fiddler said.
“I think (finding more than one form of drug in a raid) is fairly common. I think it’s because when people don’t have money they trade for other narcotics.”
Umphrey remains in Lake County Detention Center on a $250,000 bond.
