JACKSON COUNTY, W.Va. — Chief Deputy Ross Mellinger of the Jackson County Sheriff’s office is calling Friday a great day for the county.
On Friday morning, the Jackson County Sheriff’s office, Ravenswood Police Department and the Ripley Police Department working with DEA performed a drug sweep, taking more than three dozen individuals into custody.
“It’s a culmination of a lot of good, solid police work with the agencies involved here,” Mellinger said. “It basically focused on the drug trade in Jackson County, mostly methamphetamine and heroin.
“It’s an opportunity to capitalize on purifying and sanitizing the community and trying to rid it of all the toxins, the reoccurring toxins here in the county.”
Mellinger said as of 9:45 a.m. on Friday they have 40 individuals in custody after setting out on 55 warrants. He said those numbers are about par for the course from their past sweeps. Most of the arrests are felony drug-related, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s office.
A lot of preparation and work goes into a sweep like this, Mellinger said.
“Coordination and mutual efforts with the agencies,” he said. “There’s no substitute for the element of surprise and that’s the important thing. Getting these people rounded up early in the morning when they don’t see it coming and try to capitalize on the opportunity that is presented to us.”
With these people and drugs off the streets, Mellinger said everybody is a winner in Jackson County.
“The community itself, the citizens of Jackson County, the law enforcement,” he said. “It’s like Christmas Day for policemen in Jackson County. We all have a good time knowing we get to go home safe to our families and we made Jackson County a better place today (Friday).”