Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. What officials are calling the largest mass arrest of drug offenders in West Virginia history occurred Thursday when 100 people were targeted for reportedly committing more than 300 drug offenses. I thought, My God, almost 9m pills in two years went out of here, and Wooley said that he made $500,000 a month in a little town of 400 people.. The policeman said it fell under the definition of wire fraud. Published: Nov. 28, 2019 at 3:23 AM PST. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. CNN Authorities arrested 35 people and seized enough fentanyl to kill roughly 14 million people in a three-state drug bust announced on Thursday by the US Justice Department. Weather Alerts. Ellifrtiz said the confiscated drugs definitely came from out of the area and were not manufactured locally. The suspects transported the drugs using hidden traps in privately owned vehicles, semi-trailers, trucks, and recreational vehicles, authorities said. According to Keyser Police Chief Jared Bruce, the officers confiscated approximately an ounce of cocaine base (crack), 10 ounces of cocaine HCL, two pounds of methamphetamine (ice / crystal meth), approximately 10,000 pressed fentanyl tablets, 150 pounds of marijuana, 327 THC vape cartridges, five firearms, three vehicles and an undisclosed amount of U.S. currency. n Richwood area: Daniel Copen, Lola Copen, A.J. Wooley decided to follow the Williamson model by setting up a doctor to churn out opioid prescriptions for him to fill. or anything. Area listings from Your Bulletin Board with regular updates. Notifications from this discussion will be disabled. 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(WV News) A Keyser man remains jailed after being arrested earlier this month in what law enforcement officials believe is the largest drug bust in Keyser history. Ballengee was arrested in July, days after an Ohio court released Drug Enforcement Administration documents showing that pharmaceutical distributors delivered millions of opioid pills to his tiny pharmacy. People came from hundreds of miles around to buy the powerful drugs from pharmacies linked to pill mills where compliant doctors prescribed indiscriminately. The FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Oh Baby - two of FOX 5 DC's evening anchors announce they're pregnant! Each day, hundreds of people lined up outside an old animal feed store where a group of doctors were set up by a former pimp, just out of federal prison for running a gay prostitution ring in Washington DC, to churn out opioid prescriptions faster than West Virginias major hospitals. The circle was complete. It wasnt long before drug distribution companies, some of the largest firms in America among them, were delivering millions of opioid pills a year to Tug Valley. The bust resulted in a confiscation of 10 tons of cocaine, which was worth around $1.2 billion at the time. The giveaway was the drive-thru window, and the cars lined up past the abandoned ghost shops in downtown Williamson, West Virginia. Low near 55F. Among the agencies involved in Tuesdays arrests were Huntington, state and Marshall University police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the West Virginia National Guard, the FBI and local sheriffs departments. BRIDGEPORT In a collaborative effort from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, more than 80 people have been charged in one of the biggest drug busts in North Central West Virginia. High 74F. They shipped more narcotic painkillers to Mingo county per head of population than to any other place in the US. Ihlenfeld said although the focus was Harrison County, they arrested others in surrounding counties and states. Temperatures in Virginia. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. Cabell County, which includes Huntington, has been hit especially hard. Oh, we were aware. Both men are currently in the North Regional Jail. JACKSON COUNTY, WV (WOWK) The Jackson County Sheriffs Office is leading the single largest drug investigation warrant sweeps in West Virginias history. The last thing we want is for the US Postal Service to become the nations largest drug dealer and there are people way above my pay grade working on that, but absolutely its about putting pressure on the Chinese, Terwilliger said. Jackie Devon Thompson, 41, of Frederick, Md. The arrests were part of the Project Huntington initiative Stuart announced on March 15 to involve more federal prosecutors in a crackdown on gun and violent crime and drug trafficking in Huntington. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much The name of the pharmacys owner, Samuel R Ballengee PharmD, was displayed on the window under a sales pitch: Its all in the bag.. Officers then searched the vehicle and found several grams of methamphetamine and drug-using instruments. By then, Smith was watching. MEMPHIS, Tenn. The West Tennessee Drug Task Force announced a major bust in Gibson County that resulted in 30 pounds of methamphetamines being confiscated, along with other drugs. Its things like that you can put in front of a jury and theyre going to go, that aint right. Updated: Mar 19, 2021 / 02:47 PM EDT BOONE COUNTY, WV (WOWK)According to the Boone County Sheriff's Office, deputies executed a search warrant at a residence along Hendrick's Drive in Keith and arrested 54-year-old Paul Thomas "Paulie" Lombardi from Orgas, West Virginia on Thursday. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Marshals Service and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were among the agencies involved in the mass arrest, as well as the West Virginia State Police, Summersville Police Department, Nicholas County Sheriffs Department, Richwood Police Department, Fayette County Sheriffs Department, Fayetteville Police Department, Oak Hill Police Department, Mount Hope Police Department and the Montgomery Police Department. Report a Closing. Winds light and variable. In some cases, the defendants face penalties of five to 40 years in prison, 20 years in prison and 10 years to life, Bernard said. We'd love to hear eyewitness Im sitting here looking at this. If they can do 92 why cant we do 100 and once we meet that century mark, than anything is possible.. a multi-state drug trafficking organization that mostly . Published: Sep. 13, 2020 at 1:02 PM PDT. 1.San Francisco is home to the crown of the world largest ever recorded drugs bust. Mostly sunny. "And we introduced law . Police say 33-year-old James Martell Frazier, of Cambridge, Maryland, and Seaford, Delaware, was the leader, supervisor, financier and manager of an illegal drug network that spanned multiple . Choose wisely! The numbers of prescriptions fell sharply. In 1995, the US Coast Guard carried out a huge drug bust off the coast of Peru, which at the time was the biggest drug bust on the high seas, though it would soon be topped. Reach Joel Ebert at joel.ebert@dailymailwv.com 304-348-4843 or joel.ebert@dailymailwv.com or follow @joelebert29 on Twitter. I would also like to thank the public for the copious number of tips that lead to these types of narcotics being removed from the streets.. Justin Byrd, 28, charged with a state misdemeanor count of possession heroin. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. (July 21), Hagerstown, Washington County closer to seeing some opioid settlements, Fatal drug overdoses hit record levels during COVID, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy, Ana Ercilia Luna, 36, of Hagerstown and the Dominican Republic, Juan Manuel De La Rosa-Tejeda, also known as Little Papi, 35, of Hagerstown and the Dominican Republic, Daniel Inoa-Rodriguez, also known as Danny, 21, of Hagerstown, Tyrone Lewis, also known as "Roc," 42, of Hagerstown, Edwin Orrillio, also known as J Money, 34, of Hagerstown, Carlos M. Nunez-Arias, also known as Charlote, 51, of Hagerstown, Edson Velasquez-Lopez, 50, of Martinsburg, Chelsea Nicole Pinkcett, 33, of Martinsburg, Ronald MichaelBowers, 52, of Martinsburg, Devron Jerel Brown, also known as Country, 33, of Martinsburg. Richard Montgomery High School student accused of robbing Shell gas station at knifepoint. On Monday, officers arrested Eric Armstrong, 38; Krystal Dellagatta, 30 and Roger Ware, 43, and seized 1.7 pounds of methamphetamine. Authorities estimate the value of the drugs at $8.5 million. Don't Miss it! Out of the 25 people arrested for this drug trafficking operation, seven are from Morgantown alone with a total over 10 from West Virginia and many in our region. But at the front end were thousands of pharmacies dispensing the pills, and among the pharmacists were profiteers. READ MORE: Virginia massage therapist arrested for sexual battery while on the job. The investigation also led to takedowns in California, Missouri, Ohio, New England and New York. Bernard had high praise for the cooperative efforts of the agencies involved, saying "they did a tremendous job. In December, Easton admitted to selling. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph.. These junkies would forge prescriptions, and back in the pre-computer days I can remember standing in pharmacies going through prescriptions going, thats a junkie, thats a junkie, these are false scripts, said Ciccarelli, who has since died, in 2017. According to indictments . Officers found an assortment of illegal drugs in the home on Vine Street in Humboldt, including 35 pounds of marijuana, four ounces of cocaine, and 30 pounds of methamphetamine. Authorities seized nearly 500 pounds of methamphetamines worth roughly $18 . Prosecutors prepared charges against Barnett, but he died before he could be brought to trial. Sign up for local job offers sent to your inbox. The campaign which was conducted under the banner of Operation Angels Envy - reportedly began in 2017, and concluded in February 2020. Martinsburg authorities look back on record drug bust. Hourly & 8-Day Forecast. Your e-mail address will be used to confirm your account. Drug distributors delivered more than 30m opioid pills just to those three pharmacies, in one of the poorest counties in America. The 30-count indictment alleges the operation trafficked large amounts of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine base and cocaine hydrochloride from Hagerstown to Berkeley County, West Virginia, between. Low 34F. Ballengee and the other drug store owners kept escalating the orders, and the distributors filled them without flinching. This week's most popular news from around the State. Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and Weather. The Best News for Buckhannon and Upshur County! You have to do an investigation before you can stop something like that. It shows that were trying to address the problem, he said, noting that authorities wont simply sit back on their hands once their work is gone from the headlines. All Rights Reserved. JACKSON COUNTY, WV (WOWK) The Jackson County Sheriff's Office is leading the single largest drug investigation warrant sweeps in West Virginia's history. The 30-count indictment alleges the operation trafficked large amounts of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine base and cocaine hydrochloride from Hagerstown toBerkeley County, West Virginia, between August2020and June of this year, according to a news release from Bernard's office. Within a few months, Wooley was filling an opioid prescription a minute in a town of fewer than 400 people. Keep it Clean. Error! He saw no red flags even as the prescriptions poured in by fax and phone. Thats really the design by nature, its the proverbial line in the sand moving forward. The doctors were careful to insist their prescriptions were filled only at pharmacies that would take the money and not ask questions. The pharmacy bought more of the opioid than any drugstore in West Virginia or neighbouring states that year and ranked 22nd in the nation among retail pharmacies for hydrocodone purchases. The boards punishment was to require him to write a book report on a medical textbook called Responsible Opioid Prescribing: A Physicians Guide. When asked why a mass arrest was necessary, Calhoun said the element of surprise was necessary. He was arraigned and bond was set at $175,000 cash only, but that has since been reduced to $50,000 cash only, according to the PHRJ website. Ciccarelli had come from pursuing Colombian cartels in Florida, but he already knew West Virginia well from working the drug beat as a police officer in the early 1980s. It could not be determined Wednesday if those arrested remained in custody or were on pre-trial release. C in Belpre, and 949 Lancaster St., Marietta. BECKLEY JUNCTION, WV (WVNS) More than 1,000 grams of heroin and more than 100 grams of meth were recovered during a drug bust in Raleigh County. Operation Angels Envy also had a far-reaching impact throughout the DMV. Ihlenfeld said warrants were executed for charges including the possession and distribution of heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine. At the Disco breaking up after almost 20 years of music (FlipSide). He tells the Panhandle News Network it was a record-breaking seizure. West Virginia leads the nation by far in the rate of drug overdose deaths. Daily News, Sports and Events for Garrett County and surrounding areas. The investigation is ongoing at this time. racist or sexually-oriented language. We want people to know we are in this fight and were going to keep on it, he said. By Marsha Chwalik. Discovery Company. Four different education bills were voted on in both chambers. Special offers from businesses around your area. 4:18 PM EDT, Fri August 30, 2019, Dr. Gupta explains why opioids so addictive. Speaking at a news conference Tuesday, Bernard saidMota is accused of using hisbusiness, Top 3 Sources on West Washington Street, to store and sell drugs and launder the proceeds. He will become radicalized and when/if he gets out he will be a bigger threat than ever. He also added that the arrests made were primarily for felony crimes: The majority of the operations are all felony investigations, you have a few misdemeanors sprinkled in but those misdemeanor cases are complementary of the felony investigations, Sheriff Mellinger told WSAZ. You have permission to edit this article. I tried to use the wire fraud to get everybody, the pharmacies and the doctors. In 2007, someone anonymously tipped off the West Virginia medical board that Tiano was prescribing illegally. Operation Angels Envy eventually stretched to seven states and resulted in more than 30 arrests, the seizure of more than 100 firearms; $6 million in cash, jewelry and other valuables; 473 pounds . ELKINS, W.Va. - Elkins officials continue to investigate after arresting three people in the city's biggest meth bust to date. It's playing an increasing role in filling U.S. demand for super-pure meth, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and other drugs, appearing in at least 35 states, a Courier Journal investigation found,. You have permission to edit this article. "They represent lives saved from overdose deaths and the continuing nightmare of drug addiction and the never-ending spinoffs of associated crimes from robberies, retail thefts, shootings and others that tear at the very fabric of our great and prosperous community," he said. 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