Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Two County Women Arrested

A new law, recently passed by the Arkansas General Assembly, helped lead to the arrest of two women in connection with operating a drug lab near Vaden.

According to reports from the Clark County Sheriff's Office, Julie Hogan, 30, of Arkadelphia, and Dana Holder, 31, of Gurdon, were arrested and charged with one count each of criminal attempt to manufacture a controlled substance.

This is a class A felony, carrying a sentence of 6-30 years in prison.

The two were also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, a class C felony, punishable by 3-10 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.

The third charge levied against these two was over-possession of pseudo-ephedrine, a class D felony, which has a sentence of up to six years.

The CCSO worked with the Arkadelphia Police Department and the Group 6 Narcotic Enforcement Unit after being notified the two had bought the pseudo-ephedrine. This item is commonly used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

The authorities were first notified as to these two woman buying the over-the-counter remedy, and given a license number of the vehicle they were in. This was on Thursday, May 17.

Officers spotted the car and found chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphetamine in it.

The investigation then led authorities to a private residence on Central Road where officers found, after getting a search warrant, what is termed precursor chemicals, including the pseudo-ephedrine. The items were found in a car on the premises.

Further investigation led officers to a house on McDonald Road near Vaden. There, officers got consent to search and found paraphernalia used in the manufacture and ingestion of methamphetamine.

Holder and Hogan have made their first appearance in court before Clark County Circuit Judge John Thomas, and are currently being held in the Clark County Detention Facility under a $25,000 bond.

The law was passed in the recently concluded legislative session. Under it, possession of more than nine grams of ephedrine is a felony. This amounts to about four average over-the-counter packages of decongestant.