An Owensville man arrested Oct. 13 at his East Springfield Road home on allegations of delivery of a controlled substance also faces forfeiture of $4,080 in cash from an Aug. 2 warrant search of his residence.

Jason D. Pape, 42, was charged in a Gasconade County warrant alleging delivery of a controlled substance and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia after officers with the Lake Area Narcotics Enforcement Group (LANEG), sheriff’s deputies and Owensville police served a search warrant early Friday at his residence in the 1000 block of East Springfield.

A search of a rear gutter downspout uncovered a black zippered bag and a light bulb. Inside those items, investigators located 20 grams of suspected methamphetamine packaged into five individual baggies and a glass smoking pipe.

Pape suggested to investigators the items found in the downspout could have been missed during a prior search. But, according to the Probable Cause Statement filed as the application for a charging warrant, the items appeared “clean and un-weathered” compared to the downspout which “appeared to be weathered and dirty.”

Field tests of the crystallized substance showed positive for methamphetamine.

Pape has a prior felony conviction from July 2017 for delivery of a controlled substance, according to a complaint filed by Prosecuting Attorney Mary E. Weston in the application for the current charges. That conviction was in McDonald County in Missouri

Weston on Aug. 9 petitioned the Gasconade County Circuit Court to seize cash discovered at Pape’s residence during an Aug. 2 warrant search under the “Comprehensive Drug Control Act.” Pape was issued a summons in the civil case and given 30 days to appear in court to file pleadings on the asset seizure petition.

Pape is scheduled to be arraigned on the criminal charges from August at 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 2, before Judge Ryan J. Helfrich in Hermann. He is scheduled to be arraigned before Associate Circuit Judge Ada Brehe-Krueger at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 1 on the latest charges.

Bond on the recent charges was set at $50,000 cash or surety.

LANEG’s five-officer staff and three Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers seized 121 grams of meth during the quarterly period from July to September. Also seized were 24 grams of fentanyl, 28 prescription pills, 67 grams of psilocybin mushrooms, and eight firearms during 26 warrant searches and five consent searches.

The task force and local police agencies they work within the region arrested 44 individuals on drug-related charges. LANEG also recorded one arrest of a felon in possession of a firearm and six other warrant arrests.

LANEG is a multi-jurisdictional drug task force which serves Camden, Crawford, Gasconade, Laclede, and Maries counties along with the cities of Lebanon, Dixon, Bourbon, Cuba, Steelville, Owensville, Vienna, Hermann, Linn Creek, Sunrise Beach and Belle.

The task force encompasses five counties with an approximate population of 142,000 residents. LANEG conducts both covert and overt narcotics investigations in the counties and cities they serve.

According to a release from LANEG staff, funding for this program is made available by the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG), which is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance and the State of Missouri Department of Public Safety.

According to LANEG officials, their success is a credit “to local and surrounding law enforcement agencies and the public’s cooperation.”

The public is asked that if they have any information regarding a possible methamphetamine laboratory, growing of marijuana, or other information about the distribution of narcotics, to contact your local law enforcement agency call the toll-free number 1-800-351-8477 (TIPS) to reach LANEG. All callers have the option of remaining anonymous.