Two arrested in Cass drug bust

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Sept. 29, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

Two men were arrested in rural Cass Lake Monday on drug charges, according to Cass County Chief Deputy Sheriff Randy Fisher.

Cass County deputies arrested about 9:30 p.m. Monday Deandre D. Lasane, 24, of Minneapolis, and Jermaine Parker, 18, of Cass Lake and also seized a "controlled substance" believed to be crack cocaine and $5,000, Fisher stated in a news release.

The money is believed to be proceeds from the sale of the drug, Fisher said.

Both men are currently being held in the Cass County Jail.

Fisher said he did not know if the incident was related to a drug bust two weeks ago in which a Cass County deputy arrested in Cass Lake an illegal alien for possessing 25 grams of cocaine.

Julio Cesar Astudillo-Alvarado, 23, of Ecuador, was arrested Sept. 11 after a Cass County deputy pulled him over for speeding and not having a rear license plate.

"I don't know (if they are related)," Fisher said in an interview. "They certainly were in the same area."