Fond du Lac police make another big drug bust

FOND DU LAC - It's another in a series of big drug busts in the Fond du Lac area.

The fifth in the last four months. This time 18 people were arrested and a variety of drugs were seized from two homes.

Cleaning up the drug problem in Fond du Lac is becoming a central focus for the police department, according to Captain Steve Klein.

"When you start going after those dealing illegal drugs you start seeing the benefits of reducing other crime that goes along with the drug trade," he said.

Since the beginning of the year, police have made more than 100 drug-related arrests. Some of the same people arrested Wednesday have been charged in earlier busts.

"It's very frustrating for law enforcement and the criminal justice community when these same individuals continue to go out and sell illegal drugs in our community," Klein said.

A home in the 500 block of Farwell Avenue in Fond du Lac was raided for the third time since August. Police say they found a variety of illegal drugs inside. Having already made several drug busts at the home in Fond du Lac, Captain Klein says the city could consider other alternatives to help curb the alleged crimes.

"Those are things that are options that we look at and ultimately the city could possibly go after the house," Klein said.

And Klein repeated a message the department wants drug dealers to take to heart.

"We're hoping that these individuals get the message that this is not going to be tolerated in Fond du Lac, and we're going to continue to aggressively go after those who continue to deal illegal drugs in our community."

The police department is still looking for six people in connection with the case. They are Michael R. Murphy, 52, of Fond du Lac; Kimberly D. Raabe, 39, of Fond du Lac; Jacquelyn J. Rooney, 42, of Fond du Lac; Sara A. Schmitz, 31, of Fond du Lac; Christina L. Stein, 27, of Oshkosh; and Laman T. Stigler, 24, of Fond du Lac. Anyone with information on where those people are is asked to call police at (920) 906-5555.