Tri-DENT drug investigation leads to Marseilles man’s arrest

Ottawa Police and La Salle County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Benjamin R. Smith, 24, of Marseilles on cocaine charges Sunday in Ottawa.

Smith is being held at the La Salle County Jail on a $750,000 bond. He has been charged with two counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance-cocaine, a Class 1 felony, which is punishable with four to 15 years in prison.

The La Salle County arrest warrant was obtained with the assistance of the La Salle County State Attorney’s Office after a narcotic investigation across several months conducted in the Ottawa area by the Tri-DENT Drug Task Forcea. Police said Smith delivered more than one gram of cocaine to Tri-DENT agents on multiple occasions.