PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — Southern West Virginia federal prosecutor Mike Stuart on Thursday announced what he considered another major blow to drug trafficking in West Virginia.
“We had more than 100 law enforcement officers at the federal, state, and local level descending on Parkersburg and targeting drug dealers–not users–but dealers,” he explained. “The action resulted in more than 150 pounds of meth taken off the streets.”
It was the largest confiscation of methamphetamine in the history of West Virginia according to Stuart who added the drugs were actually located across the river in Ohio and it was the largest single confiscation of meth in Ohio history as well.
A total of 30 people have been indicted in the investigation dubbed “Project Parkersburg” which had been ongoing for the past nine months.
“At least 18 of those will be federal charges and 12 will be state charges,” Stuart explained. “Of the 18 federal charges there was one in Michigan, one in Florida, and one in Arizona. This was a multi-state effort and rose to the level of Attorney General Sessions.”
The effort isn’t done according to Stuart and more charges and arrests are pending.
“There is a sense of urgency to me. I grew up in West Virginia and this drug scourge has impacted everybody–even my own extended family,” said Stuart. “We’re going to win this battle and dealers that have caused this scourge are going to have extended stays in the prison system or they are going to leave this area. We’re going to take these streets back for our people.”
In addition to the 150 pounds of methamphetamine, law enforcement also seized four pounds of heroin and varying amounts of cocaine and other drugs in the roundup.