Mickey "Pete" Murphy, 49, was only out of jail for four weeks before he was arrested by Hohenwald Police Department K-9 Officer Robbie Hooks and Narcotics Officer Brandon Pace on Wednesday, May 4, 2022.

Murphy had failed to meet with his probation officer which led to the issuance of a state arrest warrant. This allowed HPD Officers to make contact with Murphy when they spotted him on a scooter.

Murphy had 18 grams of methamphetamine in his possession. The HPD officers placed Murphy under arrest and charged him with possession of schedule II with intent.

On Tuesday, May 10, 2022, HPD performed a home compliance check at 541 North Park Avenue for Donavan Conner, 23, who was on probation. Prior to the search, HPD was given information that Conner had been supplying M30 blue pills containing Fentanyl.

While conducting the search, an HPD Officer found 97 M30 pills, containing Fentanyl, in Conner's bedroom closet.

"The few overdoses we've had, they're finding half of a pill. So they're using only half of that pill and dying," said Officer Pace in an interview. "So you can really double that [amount of pills] and that's how many lives were potentially saved."

Conner was brought back to the police department for questioning and was placed under arrest. He was charged with possession of schedule II with intent, and unlawful drug paraphernalia.

"This is a huge deal for us and a huge deal for the community, getting these pills before they could potentially kill people," said Chief of Police Kip Kelsey. "If half of a pill can kill someone, just imagine what 97 of them can do."

One officer said that when a dealer buys 100 pills, they buy them for cheap and later mark them up to anywhere from $45 to $65 per pill.

"I understand the frustration of the community when we have these overdoses. From the outside looking in, it may seem like we're not doing much but there is so much that goes on behind the scenes," said the officer. "There are houses that we all know drugs are coming in and out of. You have no idea how bad we want to bust into that house and start taking people to jail, but there are so many laws in place to protect [all of our] constitutional rights. You can't go off word of mouth and things like that. We have to have evidence so that we don't lose the case when it goes to court."

18 grams of Methamphetamine

Chief Kelsey agreed, explaining that it was a process. "Even if we do show up and it's apparent that it was an overdose, we still have to wait for an autopsy to come back to confirm it. Right now the examiner's office is three months behind.. That doesn't include the time it takes to do an investigation.. But having said that, we are making progress and I think this bust is evidence of that.

"These guys are working endless hours and are working their tails off for this community. We're not going to stop and we're not going to slow down," said Chief Kelsey.