A six month undercover drug investigation leads to 31 grand jury indictments in Douglas County.

Most of the defendants live in Ava, a town of about 3,000.

The Douglas County sheriff says the small city is dealing with big drug problems.

Douglas County Sheriff Gary Koop says deputies started to see more drugs on the streets and more drug dealers.

“It changed from marijuana and meth to cocaine and prescription drugs it was getting pretty bad," Sheriff Koop says.

Koop says that's when he called the South Central Drug Task Force and Highway Patrol for help.

In the early morning hours Tuesday, officers knocked on dozens of doors to make arrests.

Authorities arrested and charged 24 of 31 suspects.

“Everybody knows about it," Ava resident Sharlene Deever says.

Deever's husband is on the suspect list.

“I heard banging on my door at seven o’clock this morning there were four cop cars outside," Deever says.

Deever says her husband, Mathew Deever, is innocent.

She admits he does have a past but says fatherhood has changed him.

“I think people are saying names to keep themselves out of trouble," Deever says.

Sheriff Koop says undercover officers made each arrest for a reason.

“They made contacts and bought drugs from them," Koop says.

Deever and Sheriff Koop may disagree on her husband's innocence but they do agree drugs are a problem in Douglas County.

“Unfortunately drugs are a problem here,” Deever says.
A problem the sheriff says the large drug round up only put a small dent in.

“I'm sure we haven't got near all of them," Sheriff Koop says.

The sheriff says they arrested so many suspects they couldn't hold them in their jail.

Ozark County is holding the rest of the suspects.

The sheriff says this is the largest round up in the area since 1995.


Here’s a list of people arrested and charged with the sale of a controlled substance:

Dianna M. Barnes, 30, Ava, Missouri
Austin C. Bogart, 19, Ava, Missouri
Charles M. Clark, 33, Ava, Missouri
James H. Cruse, 40, Mountain Grove, Missouri
Mathew P. Deever, 23, Ava, Missouri
Quisto W. Eutsler, 21, Squires, Missouri
Blane D. Fleetwood, 45, Ava, Missouri
Cory E. Goodman, 25, Ava, Missouri
Kristopher K. Ingino, 22, Ava, Missouri
Debra K. James, 51, Ava, Missouri
Franklin C. Johnson, 21, Squires, Missouri
Jeffrey T. Joseph, 19, Ava, Missouri
Stephen D. Lansdown, 55, Ava, Missouri
Thomas M. Larimore, 43, Ava, Missouri
James S. Lewis, 31, Ava, Missouri
Shannon M. Ponder, 34, Ava, Missouri
Daniel C. Souder, 24, Ava, Missouri
Beth L. Stafford, 48, Ava, Missouri
Ronald K. Swearengin, 45, Ava, Missouri
Jessica L. Williams, 23, Ava, Missouri
Michael L. Williams, 28, Ava, Missouri

Additional agencies involved included the Douglas County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Howell County Sheriff’s Department and Ava Police Department.

(Jan. 7 Editor's note: Commenting on this story has been de-activated temporarily.)