This past Friday, Great Bend Police Officers participated in a drug sweep at the Great Bend High School. This sweep, conducted with and at the request of the school administration, consisted of drug detecting canine teams working with school administrators to “sniff” for drugs in the school building and vehicles parked near the school. 

Although officers did not locate any drugs inside any of the classrooms, police canine “Lazer” indicated that he smelled illegal substances inside a pickup truck parked in front of the school. The Department’s other canine, “Kia” was taken near the vehicle and indicated that he also smelled illegal substances inside the vehicle. 

Officers obtained a warrant to search the truck, and found several kinds of illegal drugs inside. Based on the quantity of drugs and the way they were packaged, officers believe that Iban Martinez, the owner of the vehicle, was selling drugs to other students. Martinez had already left campus by the time officers served the search warrant, but he was quickly taken into custody by other officers who located him in town. 

Martinez was turned over to the Barton County Jail and booked on charges of distribution of an illegal substance within 1,000 feet of a school and possession of an illegal substance without a tax stamp. 

According to the GBHS yearbook, he is a senior this year at the school.

“Neither the Police Department nor the school administration has any tolerance for people who deal drugs to our sons and daughters,” a Police Department release said. “Drugs have no place in our community and certainly no place in our schools. The Police Department and the Schools will continue working together to make sure that anyone who would try to turn our schools into a drug market is caught and dealt with appropriately.” 

The department also reminds students that they can report illegal activity at school to an administrator or the Police Department’s school liaison officer. “If a student has tried using illegal substances and become addicted, they are reminded that they can approach the school liaison officer or the guidance counselor, who can help them and their family locate the appropriate resources to deal with the problem,” the release continued. 

The Police Department does not typically release the name of school-aged children who are arrested, but the subject in this particular case was 18 years of age, and therefore legally an adult, the release said.