Multiple law enforcement agencies, led by the Harrison County Violent Crimes and Drug Task Force, were involved with a lengthy drug operation this morning and into this afternoon that resulted in drug charges being filed against 87 individuals. According to United States Attorney for the Northern District, William J. Ihlenfeld II, the operation included local, state and federal agencies.

 

“There was a lot of work done prior to today and a lot of work done prior to today,” said Ihlenfeld during an afternoon press conference in the conference room of the Bridgeport Municipal Complex. “I want to commend the law enforcement agents who were involved the investigation of these cases and involved in the round up this morning. It was quite a massive effort.”

 

Massive may be an appropriate adjective. Ihlenfeld said 10 teams of officers and agents that consisted of at least six per team.

 

“Most of them (54) were Clarksburg, West Virginia residents, but we have folks from other towns within West Virginia and from Pennsylvania and Ohio as well that have been apprehended or in the process of being apprehended,” said Ihlenfeld.

 

One of those arrested was from Bridgeport. Seven individuals were from Pennsylvania, while one was from Ohio. Most of the criminal activity was in Harrison County, but Ihlenfeld said some of the activity that led to the charges took place in Monongalia, Marion and Tyler counties.

 

Perhaps not surprising is that most of the case involve heroin, which has dominated the news in recent years. Ihlenfeld said 46 percent – or more than half of those charged – had heroin-related charges.

 

“It’s the number one problem, at least from a federal perspective, in 2015,” said Ihlenfeld. “ … The number of West Virginians that are dying from heroin is staggering.”

 

The apprehensions, as Ihlenfeld said, began this morning. A command and control center was established at the Bridgeport Recreation Complex where multiple agencies fanned out to make the arrests.

 

Of the 87 individuals charged, 40 of them are facing federal charges. The remaining 47 face state charges. As of the press conference at 2 p.m. there were 50 individual were in custody, including approximately nine already in custody on unrelated charges, Ihlenfeld said. Ihlenfeld was joined by Bridgeport Police Chief John Walker, Clarksburg Police Chief Robbie Hilliard and Harrison County Prosecuting Attorney Rachel Romano during the press conference.

 

The group was just part of a sizable team put together in today’s operation. Along with the Task Force, the groups involved include The Mon-Metro Drug Task Force, the Three Rivers Drug Task Force, the Stonewood Police Department, the West Virginia State Police, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service-CI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

 

“This was no small endeavor by law enforcement community in Harrison County and the surrounding counties,” said Romano. “There are hundreds and hundreds of hours, man hours, that go into pulling off a drug round up of this magnitude. These guys should all be commended for their effort. Now it’s up to my office and (Ihlenfeld’s) office to seek successful convictions on all of these defendants.”

 

Walker echoed those comments.

 

“There are hundreds and hundreds of hours involved here … This is an uphill battle,” said Walker, who is the chairman of the Harrison County Drug Task Force that helped lead this operation.

 

Ihlenfeld said today’s arrest didn’t eliminate the drug problem that has permeated Harrison County and North Central West Virginia. However, he said what took place was critical.

 

“This is a big step. Whenever you have 87 people charged all at once it’s going to put a dent in it. It’s going to take some significant traffickers off the street and hopefully incarcerate them for a long period of time,” said Ihlenfeld. “There are others that won’t go away so long, but you hope that it will be a wakeup call for them.”

 

The investigation times for individuals charged today varied. Ihlenfeld said some of the case began this year, while others go back prior to 2015. The charges, he said, are high level to low level.

 

“We have a couple of people charged simply with misdemeanor possession and then we have more significant traffickers charged with multiple counts of the distribution of heroin or powder cocaine or crack cocaine. Then you have the folks in the middle,” said Ihlenfeld. “This runs the gamut of the types of people we typically see in the drug trade.”

 

The list of federal and state defendants is below. Hilliard is hoping those who are dealing, but weren’t caught today take a look at it.

 

“I hope this sends a message to those that aren’t on this list to beware,” said Hilliard.

 

Click HERE for a blog relating to Tuesday's operation.