By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – St. John Parish authorities arrested 10 individuals Tuesday in connection with an ongoing undercover narcotics investigation, said a Sheriff’s Office spokesman.

Capt. Dane Clement, a public information officer for the St. John Sheriff’s Office, said eight of the men were arrested for street level drug dealing of various narcotics within the parish, all of whom were working independent of one another. He said the remaining two individuals, who both had outstanding warrants in St. John, were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Clement explained that throughout the operation, undercover agents purchased either illegal drugs or purported illegal drugs from one or all of the dealers over the course of an undisclosed period of time.

“We built our cases, acquired warrants and picked them all up on the same day,” Clement said. “Each arrest is being handled as a separate case.”

The eight alleged dealers arrested were:

Terence Fenroy, 26, 2312 Airline Highway, LaPlace, booked with distribution of a schedule I controlled dangerous substance; Gary Jones, 21, 439 Capt. G. Bourgeois St., LaPlace, booked with distribution a schedule II CDS; Brenda Babin, 47, 277 Elm St., LaPlace, booked with distribution of a counterfeit CDS; Kendall Diggs, 22, 1015 Whitlow Court, LaPlace, booked with distribution of a schedule I CDS; Kyron Pembrook, 21, 275 Sherman Walker St., Garyville, booked with two counts of distribution of a counterfeit CDS; Alvin Johnson Jr., 38, 373 Historic St., Garyville, booked with distribution of a counterfeit CDS; Gabriel King, 21, of LaPlace, booked with two counts of distribution of a schedule II CDS; and Lance Labranch, 21, of LaPlace, booked with distribution of a schedule II CDS.

Also arrested in the roundup was David Pembrook, 24, 420 Lil Hope St., Garyville, for a bench warrant and possession of marijuana, and Dameion Keys, 25, 120 Dove St., LaPlace, for parole violation.

Clement said all ten individuals are all being held at the Sherman Walker Correctional Center in LaPlace in lieu of various bonds.