Following a drug trail from Louisville to Muncie, the Delaware County Drug Task Force arrested two Ball State students and requested warrants for two more Tuesday.
Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, the drug task force pulled over two cars of non-local suspected dealers traveling on I-69. Task force co-director Greg Ellison said the suspected dealers are somehow connected to the four students. The students' homes were searched last week.
"It's all connected," Ellison said. "That search went back to the traffic stop. It's all mixed up."
A search Wednesday of senior David Zink and junior Darrell Richard's 2200 N. Oakwood Ave. apartment yielded over three grams of cocaine, 22 Oxycodone tablets and 73 steroid tablets, task force co-director Jess Neal said.
Neal said the police found nine ounces of cocaine, three to four pills of Ecstacy and 15 pounds of marijuana at Paul and Joseph Bobish's 1805 N. Janney Ave. house Thursday. The brothers are registered at Ball State, but Paul Bobish is currently not enrolled in classes, Neal said.
Including the two searched cars, the busts amounted to $110,000 worth of drugs, $10,000 cash and four guns, Neal said.
"I doubt if we shut them all down, but we definitely put a dent in the influx (of drugs)," Ellison said.
The drug task force, a collaboration between the sheriff and city and Ball State's police departments, worked with Kosciusko county to track suspected dealers Josh McVoy and Michael Pratt on I-69 Monday. They were pulled over at 5:23 p.m. and University Police Department canine officer Craig Hodson helped search their car.
At 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, suspected dealer Andrew Do was pulled over at Dill Street and University Avenue. He was carrying 600 pills of Ecstacy in his Lexus SUV. Police seized both vehicles.
"A majority of stuff being brought in was going to a substantial number of students," Delaware County Deputy Prosecutor Mark McKinney said.
Do and McVoy posted bail Tuesday. Pratt, Zink and Richards remain in jail, Ellison said.
McKinney said police also found a list of buyers' names and purchase amounts in one of the homes. Neal said the investigation is still ongoing.
"It should make a few students nervous," McKinney said.
McKinney said he will not reduce the felony charges, which typically carry a 30-year sentence. He said he expects judges to consider that Zink, Richard and the Bobishes are students.
"That's a factor for the court to consider at sentencing," McKinney said. "I'm not going to adjust my handling of the case. (There's) a significant amount of drugs going on campus."
Neal said the amount of drugs at Ball State are nothing unusual when compared to other universities. He also said police don't routinely schedule busts around campus, either.
"It's not that we expect it," Neal said. "We go where the information takes us."
Zink and Richard's arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday at the Delaware County Courthouse.
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