On Wednesday, the Owensboro Police Department released additional details of the expansive drug enforcement operation Wednesday.
Of the 37 individuals charged, 17 are from Owensboro and are mostly charged with dealing meth and/or Fentanyl.
The Owensboro Police Department is one of several agencies including the DEA in Indianapolis and Evansville, and investigators from Louisville and California.
OPD Deputy Chief Lt. Colonel JD Winkler, said the impact of this investigation is dismantling a criminal organization from the top down, starting with leadership.
“They can use vulnerable people,” he said during the news conference Wednesday. “They can use addicts to physically traffic on the street and keep their separation from it. That's what these investigations are for, is to accomplish taking the predators that are using people to profit off of them.”
There were also firearms charges, such as Cameron Jackson, 24, of Owensboro, with charges stemming from a 2019 conviction of second-degree manslaughter.
So far 34 of the 37 have already been arrested without incident. They’ll work with the US Marshals to secure the rest.
252 pounds of meth and 25 pounds of cocaine were seized — likely to be sold in southern Indiana and Western Kentucky.
Michael Gannon, special agent with the Indianapolis DEA, said these homemade illegal drugs are especially dangerous.
“We see fentanyl constantly, and they can add that to anything they want,” he said. “They can add that into methamphetamine. They can add that into cocaine. They can make those pills that look like legitimate pharmaceutical pills that they're putting in.”
Gannon says there are about 112,000 overdose deaths per year.
The operation began in Owensboro, with undercover street-level investigations by the Owensboro Police.
They eventually sought the suppliers for the local narcotics in Louisville and even Los Angeles.
The operation to bring down the entire drug trafficking organization was massive.
“This investigation encompassed thousands and thousands of hours of covert investigative work,” Winkler said. “… multiple undercover, controlled vice, multiple search warrants and over more than a year and ultimately resulted in last week's multi agency operation that took place in Owensboro, Davis County, also in Louisville, Kentucky nd one search warrant that took place in Ohio County.”
Even the Evansville Police, Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s and local DEA were involved. The main round of arrests ended Tuesday in California.
Winkler said there are always multiple drug investigations happening at once. They often require they used of federal dollars to fund overtime hours and pull investigators from different departments.
A detailed description of the investigation, including the defendants, can be read here.
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