Cops bust duo

It won’t shut down the flow of methamphetamine to Clovis, but police say a Monday evening drug bust at a Clovis truck stop will put a significant dent in the availability of meth on Clovis streets.

Shane Burton, 30, and Russell Lasner, 26, both of Clovis, are in the Curry County Adult Detention Center facing charges that include possession of methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Police said the two were arrested while trying to sell meth to undercover officers about 8 p.m. Monday and had $2,000 cash and four ounces of meth with a street value of $11,000 in their possession.

“To be delivering four ounces of methamphetamine, they would be pretty high up as far as the amount they were able to deliver,” said Sgt. Jay Longley of the Region Five Task Force, who worked the case along with agents from the New Mexico Motor Transportation Division.

“It’s a significant arrest,” Longley said. “It will limit the availability of meth on the street level, and the investigation is continuing.”

Longley said the truck stop was not involved in the investigation and was simply a convenient place named by the suspects to meet with the undercover officers they expected to purchase their meth. One of the pair tried to flee but was caught after running about 100 yards.

Burton is being held on a $52,500 bond; Lasner’s bond is $56,000.

Court records in New Mexico show the two have a long criminal history in Curry County. Most prior convictions were for burglary, larceny, forgery, bad checks and minor drug offenses, and Burton had two outstanding warrants for failure to appear for arraignment and failure to comply with conditions of release. Both had criminal cases pending on other matters at the time of their arrest.

The two men face a base sentence of up to three years in prison. However, both could be given longer sentences if convicted on other outstanding felony charges and found to be habitual offenders.