Suspected Drug Dealer Charged With Dealing

A Spokane man, identified by police as a major drug dealer, has been arrested on drug charges after meeting with a police informant.

Michael Urann, 37, was charged with drug dealing, a charge that carries a penalty of three to 15 years in prison and fines of up to $50,000.

But Whitman County Sheriff Steve Thomson, commander of the Quad Cities Drug Task Force, said he is worried Urann will disappear after his brother posted a $10,000 bond for him Wednesday. Urann allegedly is connected with a Mexican drug cartel in Southern California.

He was arrested in Moscow on Tuesday night after police set up a meeting with an informant who was wearing a hidden tape recorder, ostensibly to retrieve $4,000 in cash and six pounds of marijuana.

While investigators booked Urann into the Latah County Jail, Urann’s Spokane home was searched and officers seized about $13,000 in cash, Thomson said.

“This is going to have an affect on marijuana in this area,” Thomson said. “If nothing else, individuals that have been buying pot from Urann are going to have to look elsewhere, but we’re still seeing huge quantities of Mexican marijuana being smuggled in, as well as huge quantities of Mexican methamphetamine.”

Because Urann has an extensive criminal history and such serious charges pending against him, Tomson said he was unsure if he will reappear in court. According to a Task Force press release, Urann was convicted in the 1970s for two robberies and possession of a switch blade knife and in the ‘80s for armed assault, assault with a firearm and drug charges.

, DataTimes MEMO: Idaho headline: Spokane man arrested by drug task force