Traffic Stop Turns Into 6-Suspect Meth Bust

A traffic stop on Friday, December 1, resulted in the arrest of one person – and then five additional people on Saturday. The half dozen individuals will appear in court for status hearings and arraignments beginning December 13, with the others to follow up on January 10 and 24.

The charges for the entire group include possession of methamphetamine.

The six arrestees include Crystal Hunter, 29, Gary Peters, 62, Stevn Graupensperger, 30, Mark Vigil, 62, Jeffery Barborak, 55, and Christopher Hughes, 36.

Other charges include driving under suspension for Hunter. Barborak will face a bond violation in addition to the possession, and Christopher Hughes was tagged with possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person.

By Tuesday afternoon, only Barborak and Hughes were still housed in the Kimball County Jail; the others had bonded out.

The arrest of the half a dozen individual started with a driving under suspension traffic stop.

Sheriff Dave Hottell's affidavit states that he arrested Hunter for driving under suspension on Friday. Hottell searched the area of the vehicle that Hunter had direct access to and discovered a black bag with items in it that field tested positive for methamphetamine. Another bag in the car contained a syringe and a white substance, along with pipes, a glass container, and a hose with residue. The vehicle Hunter was driving belonged to Gary Peters.

On Saturday, a search warrant was served at the residence of Gary Peters, 1204 E. Highway 30. Barborak, Graupensperger and Hughes were in the residence at the time that the search warrant was executed. Peters and Vigil were brought to the residence.

Hottell's affidavit stated that both Peters and Barborak were told by Hunter that "we were going to come." Hottell's affidavit continues with, "Barorak stated that after Hunter told them that we were going to come that they flushed meth down the toilet."

A variety of items were located at the residence, including glass pipes, white substance in a baggie, leafy greens in a baggie, a spoon with white substance, knives and other weapons.

For the execution of the search warrant, the Kimball County Sheriff's Department was assisted by the Nebraska State Patrol and the Kimball Police.