Demopolis Times Writer

With the help of six surrounding departments, Marion Police arrested six residents after a Friday afternoon drug bust.

Police acquired three search warrants to go into three different homes in the Mayfair Park area after a long undercover drug investigation, Marion Police chief Jack Nelson said. But being short on staff, the department requested assistance from the Alabama Bureau of Investigations, the Fourth Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force, Greensboro Police and sheriff deputies from Perry, Clarke and Bibb counties.

“It was about 6 p.m. when we entered the homes,” Nelson said. “We confiscated crack cocaine, marijuana, about $4,000 cash, and we seized two vehicles.”

By the end of the search, police had enough evidence to arrest Robert Paul Underwood, 37, Gregory Stewart, 39, Rodney Barron, 30, Derek O’Neal “Little Derek” Williams, 26, Alexis Jerome Simpson, 37, and James Edward Cleveland Jr., 28.

And although Williams, a Marion resident, has been arrested by MPD before on drug-related charges, Nelson said this is the first time for the rest, who are also Marion citizens except for Cleveland, who is from Brent.

Williams and Cleveland both face charges of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, while Barron faces charges of first-degree possession of marijuana.

Simpson was arrested for giving a false name to officers and failing to appear, and Stewart faces a possession of drug paraphernalia charge.

Underwood is being held on two separate charges of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and first-degree unlawful possession of marijuana.

The arrests are part of an ongoing investigation, Nelson said, and the department will continue to work hard to keep drug dealers off the streets of Marion.