NOPD: Drug buy-bust leads to murder arrest

New Orleans police say a new strategy that involves undercover officers buying drugs from dealers led to the arrest of a 32-year-old murder suspect.

Police say they arrested Burnell Allen on Wednesday on a charge of second-degree murder. Allen is accused of gunning down 21-year-old Lonnie Johnson on June 9.

Officers conducted a drug buy-bust on Tuesday in the same area where the murder took place. Detectives say they got enough information about Allen to arrest him after interviewing people detained in the drug buy-bust.

Police are calling the use of drug buy-busts a new strategy that is yielding useful information about crime in New Orleans.

Police say Allen has been arrested numerous times in the past, including on murder charges in 1999. Those charges were dropped.