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Montgomery, Gibson Address Rotary on Drug Task Force

Investigators Ricky Montgomery (left) and Jesse Gibson (right) from the Lexington Police Department speak on the local drug task force.
Photo by: W. Clay Crook / The Lexington Progress

Article by W. Clay Crook-

The special guest speakers for the July 7, 2020 Lexington Rotary Club were Investigators Ricky Montgomery and Jesse Gibson, who gave a presentation on the Drug Task Force in Lexington.

Montgomery has been with the Lexington Police Department for thirty years and Gibson for the last seven, and the task force is a separate entity from the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department, which has their own program with the TBI.

Montgomery said that when he started, meth- amphetamine was one of the largest problems. It has gone by several different names, different forms and “recipes” and has its origins from as early as World War II. It has been marketed as a powder and a crystal, and years ago there were huge meth labs everywhere. These gave way towards the “shake and bake” labs which are done in smaller amounts. Now, however, most of it comes in through the mail or transported, usually from super labs in Mexico.

The task force, in times past, relied on mainly local confidential informants, but technology has expanded the scope and drug area. In the current team, Jesse Gibson is in charge of technology, and with Captain Jeff Middleton connections with the FBI, Memphis and Jackson, and information is coordinated so that the team knows what is going on all over West Tennessee. Montgomery and Gibson are both deputized with the FBI and assist as needed. “I used to say that I didn’t care what was happening in someplace like Dyersburg,” Montgomery said, “but not anymore. It took me awhile to see how all this is…

For complete coverage, see the July 8th edition of The Lexington Progress.

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2 Comments

  1. Shirley Wooley on July 9, 2020 at 12:37 pm

    I commend you and Gibson for your work! In 1993, I had a beautiful young daughter murdered because she fell into the world of drugs.She was beaten beyond recognition. We didn’t get to open her casket to say our last good-byes,…..I still hear the last words that she said to me, “mom, there isn’t a person out there who Would hurt a hair on my head”.Her name was Teresa Wills, maiden name, Daws! I pray every day and night that y’all will find all of the cookers, distributors, & manufactures of all bad drugs! My son, Johnny Joe Wooley has been in trouble with all of this bad stuff. He is in prison right now, but it isn’t for drugs. He committed crimes to pay for his bad drugs! Danny, my husband, and I will probably be dead before he gets out. I sincerely thank you & all who do their part in stopping what they can in my lifetime! Maybe the next generation will learn from other people’s mistakes! #cheers

  2. Shirley Wooley on July 9, 2020 at 12:38 pm

    Love your paper

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